


Behind Thin Walls

by kaerii_y



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adopted Keith (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Artist! Keith, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Dancer! Lance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Friends, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Gay Keith (Voltron), Idiots in Love, Keith & Pidge | Katie Holt Friendship, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Minor Character Death, Mutual Pining, Nonbinary Pidge | Katie Holt, Oblivious Keith (Voltron), Oblivious Lance (Voltron), Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Slowest Burn, Smut, Such a slow burn, Two Very Oblivious Idiots, broganes, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-06-20 10:18:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 29,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15532098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaerii_y/pseuds/kaerii_y
Summary: Walking up to the check-in table, the nervousness that burdened Lance only moments ago was gone. All the taunts his siblings had fired his way suddenly seemed irrelevant. He supposed that was partially due to the fact that he was going to be attending college in the fall with his two best friends, Hunk and Pidge, so even if orientation went tragically wrong, at least he would already havesomefriends to start off the year with.But boy, did orientation go tragically wrong.Or a college au where Lance and Keith meet at orientation over the summer and build up a heated rivalry thinking that they’ll never have to see each other again, but of course they are so pathetically clueless.





	1. Got Me Falling

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first time writing a multi-chapter fic so bear with me lol. I took a lot of inspiration for this from my own experiences in college so hopefully I do a decent job giving the full College Vibe™. Gonna be a slow burn because I love a good slow burn. Make ‘em wait for it and all that good shit. Your typical rivals to lovers college au because I’m weak and couldn’t resist. I plan on bouncing back and forth between Keith’s and Lance’s point of view for different chapters. Also, when I write full sentences in italics, that is used to show their thoughts.
> 
> Guess that’s all I have to say for now! Hope you enjoy :))
> 
> (You can find me on on other platforms too! Instagram: @blades.of.voltron Tumblr: blades-of-voltron)

“Bye Mamá! See you in a week!” Lance leaned his head into the open window of the car to give his mother a quick kiss before she drove off. “Be good and be safe!” she called out, sliding a gentle hand down his cheek as he pulled his head back out into the summer air. “¡Ah, sí sí Mamá! No te preocupes. I’ll be fine!” He flashed her his signature dashing smile before his attention was drawn to the back seat window of the old car. 

“Try not to be an idiot. You don’t wanna lose any slim chance you have of making friends before you even start college!” His head snapped towards the high pitched voice, eyes now glaring at his younger brother taunting him through the window. The little ten-year-old sat there in the car, head rested in his arms out the open window, a feint look of innocence on his face as he smiled up at the teenager. “Seriously, Lance, you’ll need all the help you can get.”

“Wow, okay _rude_!!” He pressed a hand to his chest, jaw dropping and shoulders leaning back dramatically in mock offense. “I am perfectly capable of making _tons_ of new friends, thank you very much. I can’t believe you underestimate my ability to woo people with my incredible charm!” 

The little girl sitting in the middle seat snorted and leaned away from Lance to mumble in her twin sister’s ear. “Ten bucks he does something stupid in the first 15 minutes of being here.” 

“I bet it’ll happen in less than 10.”

Lance craned his neck further into the backseat window, shooting daggers at the two culprits placing bets on his ability to humiliate himself. “Hey! I can hear you! I don’t need all three of you ganging up on m-” 

Lance jumped in his own skin, nearly dropping all his overnight bags on the sidewalk. The honk of an obnoxious car horn rang through the air, cutting off his words and piercing his eardrums. 

It was pretty packed in the drop off lot, and the long line of cars was moving impossibly slow as each family deposited their kid at the front door of Altea University’s welcome center. It didn’t allow much room for chit-chat. And clearly _some people_ were growing impatient with his family’s antics.

He turned to face the car behind them, eyeing the impertinent family behind the glass and fighting the urge to flip them off. _That would set a great example for my younger siblings, wouldn’t it?_ He opted for sticking his tongue out instead. _Much better. Very mature._

He turned back to his siblings for a quick final farewell, but the words got stuck in his throat when he saw the three little devils giggling at him. 

“Better get going Beauty Queen! Got enough stuff there?” 

Lance stuck his tongue out _again_ , this time at his little bully of a brother as he shouldered his three large duffel bags. Shaking his head, he shifted his gaze away from the little twerps and towards the older Cuban man sitting in the driver’s seat. 

“Are you sure you don’t need help carrying your bags?”

He let out a huff, now in a hurry to get them moving along. “Yes, I’m _fine_ Papí! You can go now. ¡Te quiero, hasta luego!” 

In unison, each family member called their goodbyes and taunts after him as the wheels peeled off the pavement and the car slowly rolled away. He let out a sigh of relief feeling thankful for them to be gone. 

Lance loved his family. Loved them more than anything. They had a bond closer than probably any other family in the whole world. In the whole universe even. But today was a big day for him, and there really was only so much of his siblings’ teasing he could take. His nerves were already racked enough. 

But despite his worry about making a fool of himself, he also knew today was a day full of possibility. He couldn’t wait to see what Altea would throw at him. He’d been dreaming of college ever since he was a little boy. Of course he was anxious, but even more so excited. He let out a breath and headed through the large glass doors, his fingers twitching with nervous energy, tightening their grip on his duffel bag handles. 

As much as he dreaded the impending countless hours of sitting in lecture halls listening to more useless information than his brain could handle, he couldn’t help but smile. Sure, it would be long and kind of miserable at times, and he didn’t particularly _love_ the idea of missing out on an entire week of his summer in order to spend it crammed into the tiny lecture halls of Altea University. But looking at the other students running all around him in the early July sunlight energized him. He was a people person. And orientation was going to be filled with tons of new faces that he just couldn’t wait to meet. 

Walking up to the check-in table, the nervousness that burdened him only moments ago was gone. All the taunts his siblings had fired his way suddenly seemed irrelevant. He supposed that was partially due to the fact that he was going to be attending college in the fall with his two best friends, Hunk and Pidge, so even if orientation went tragically wrong, at least he would already have _some_ friends to start off the year with.

But boy, did orientation go tragically wrong.

He waddled as fast as he could over to the table, dropping his bags in front of it to relieve himself of the weight. Four young adults all wearing the same neon green Altea Uni T-shirt sat slouched over stacks of papers and trays of room keys. The girl perched in front of him was sporting ridiculous lopsided pigtails that bounced across her face as she started rattling off information with forced enthusiasm about checking into his dorm room for the week. If the dead look behind her eyes meant anything, Lance could tell this was going to be a looooong week. He stole a glance at the other orientation leaders lounged at the long table. It seemed like they were dreading it even more than the students were. _They actually signed up for this job voluntarily? No thank you._

The longer he had to listen to her rattle on about safety procedures and the importance of not losing his room key, the more impatient he became. His fingers drummed mindlessly against his thighs, an anxious habit he picked up as a kid. His dark blue eyes darted around the room, yearning to find a new friend to talk to as he half listened to pigtail-girl. It took everything in his power to keep himself from openly yawning in her face. After what seemed like an eternity she finally ended her spiel. Collecting his key and his bags he thanked her and gratefully escaped down the hallway to where the other students were moving in. 

The distant murmur of students laughing and introducing themselves grew louder with each step. A surge of energy ran through his veins as he approached the stairs. He couldn’t even bear to wait for the elevator. He threw himself up the stairs as fast as his body could take him without dropping his bags, an eager smile spread across his face. 

Halfway up the first flight he began to feel sweat tickling his neck. Although his room was only on the third floor, he found the climb to be much more exhausting than he would have liked it to be due to his three duffel bags weighing down each step he took. It didn’t help that it was the middle of July and the building very obviously had no air conditioning either. _Well, isn’t this just great._ He shuffled awkwardly through the narrow stairway shoving his bags in front of him as he took each step. _Why on Earth didn’t I just wait for the elevator?_ He had just reached the top of the first flight when he paused to take a breath. His breaths came heavy and hot in the thick air. His ears were filled with the sound of his own pumping blood. He stood there for a moment, ignoring the sweat collecting at the bottom of his neck, slowing his breaths and listening to his heartbeat. Rapid. Loud. Inconsistent. _The fuck? Is that really what my heart sounds like? Am I going into cardiac arrest or something? Over one flight of stairs? I’m not that out of shape!! I mean, I know I skipped the gym yesterday, but still._ He struggled under the weight of his bags, shifting and twisting his limbs to readjust his grip and place a hand over his heart. He hesitated, waiting to tell what it felt like, and … It felt completely normal. A small breath of relief escaped his mouth. _Okay, good. I am in fact not dying. But wait … if that pounding wasn’t my heart then what the fuck is that sound?_ His eyebrows crinkled as he tried to distinguish the source of the thumping that had very clearly gotten louder. _It’s almost like … it’s getting closer to me … ?_

Too late he realized what it was. 

Stuck in the narrow crevice of the stairway, he scrambled with his stuff trying to get out of the way before whichever idiot that was sprinting down the stairs pummeled right into him.

 _No no no. Shit!_ With a sudden flash of movement he was thrown backwards.

As far as falling down a flight of stairs goes, Lance could say this wasn’t one of his most graceful moments. It’s pretty difficult to be graceful when you’ve been slammed into by another body running at full speed that sends you unexpectedly toppling over yourself down several painful cement steps. Yeah, that’ll definitely leave a bruise. Not to mention the three heavy-as-bricks duffle bags stuffed with skin care products didn’t help his situation either. But what could he say? He wanted to look good for orientation to impress all the new ladies he would be seeing. No shame in that.

There was a lot of shame however in endlessly tripping over and being crushed by said duffle bags as he tumbled down the stairs.

His descent abruptly came to a stop, being spilled onto the floor with a thud. He temporarily ignored the feeling of fresh bruises forming and managed to gather himself enough to glare up at the culprit who was still standing dumbfounded at the top of the stairs.

“Hey! What the hell, man? Watch where you’re going!” He lifted a hand to the back of his head, wincing as he felt around for bumps. The idiot stared down at him, having obviously not moved from his spot to help the victim up from the floor. Lance’s fingers grazed a sore spot. He winced, shutting his eyes tight as a jolt of pain shot through his body. When the pain subsided and he raised his gaze, he was met with the eyes of the culprit shuffling down the stairs, taking two steps at a time, to get to him.

“Shit, I’m sorry! Are you okay? I didn’t see you around the corner.” The unfamiliar husky voice was suddenly in his personal space prodding him. Lance groggily pushed himself to a sitting position, dropping his hand from his head. _Clearly not, dumbass._

The guy was standing over Lance reaching out a hand to help him up. For the first time he got a glance up close of what the guy looked like. The first thing he noticed were the eyes. Big and dark and staring intently at Lance. It looked like there were entire galaxies swirling around the white pools of his eyes. Hues of dark blue and glints of purple blended together in the most unique way. They were fixed on Lance, full of concern and shock and a bit of irritation. The guy was fairly tall from what Lance could tell from his position on the floor, but likely not any taller than himself. His dark hair fell messily around his broad shoulders in a way that should’ve looked terrible, but was annoyingly attractive on him, perfectly shaping the chiseled features of his face. He was fit and toned with well defined muscles, not large and overbearing, but strong, lean muscle that lined his slender frame perfectly. Lance could see every sharp detail of his muscles contracting through his tight black T-shirt as he bent over to help him off the ground.

_Damn, this asshole is hot. Fuck, I hate him even more. Dickhead._

It was then that Lance realized he had been staring. 

He averted his gaze, glancing with distaste at the guy’s hand outstretched in front of him. The throbbing pain still lightly pounding at the back of his head, he felt his face fall into a frown. Heat crawled up the side of his neck. He wasn’t sure if it was due to anger or embarrassment. Probably both. _Ugh, what a fucking prick. This is supposed to be my chance to make a ton of new friends. This is where I’m supposed to make a great rep for myself. But now I’m only 10 minutes in and I’ve already been humiliated. Here Mullet Man comes in all his perfect glory to make me look like an idiot. Fuck that. There is no way I’m going to let this asshole come throw his weight around all week and ruin my orientation._

Lance had a terrible poker face. He never really felt the need to hide his emotions. His friends and family were always open with each other about their feelings. So he kept everything he was feeling right on the surface. That way there were no misunderstandings. He made his intentions clear. He wasn’t a sugar-coater and he sure as hell wasn’t fake. If he hated someone, he made sure they knew. 

The stranger, no surprise, was catching on. His look of concern melted into one of uncertainty. He hesitantly pulled his hand back realizing that his help was not wanted.

Lance scoffed. The _last_ thing he needed was to have to be pulled up from his embarrassing state on the ground by the perfect Mullet Man who had already humiliated him enough by sending him tumbling down the stairs in the first place.

No. He just couldn’t allow that.

He pushed himself up from the ground. Slapping his hands on his thighs, he made a scene of dusting himself off, never breaking eye contact. The guy let out a quiet breathy laugh.

“Fine. Guess you’re too cool for my help then. Whatever.” He crossed his arms over his chest, face falling into a pout, eyeing Lance.

“Are you kidding me dude? What the hell was that? Haven’t you ever thought about being careful?! Or are you too self-centered that you don’t care about anyone who gets in your way?”

“What? It was an accident! I didn’t see you! And I tried to help you and apologize, so what the hell are you getting so angry at me for?” 

_Why am I angry at you? You’re joking, right?_

“Hmm, I don’t know. Let me think.” He paused, tapping a finger on his chin. “Oh, yeah! Maybe I’m mad because you just ran into me and knocked me down a flight of stairs!”

“I wouldn’t have run into you if you weren’t taking up the whole damn staircase with all your shit! Why do you have so many bags anyway?”

Lance was thrown off by the question. They were going to be there for almost a full week. And orientation was kind of a big deal to him. It was his first chance to impress his new colleagues. His first chance to make new friends. Of course he needed all his stuff! He had to look and feel his absolute best! 

He blinked. “Uhhh, because we are here for five days? Why wouldn’t I bring a lot of stuff with me?”

The guy groaned, dragging a gloved hand down his face and rolling his eyes before glaring back at Lance. “We’re here for five days, not five months. No one needs that much shit!”

“Well, excuse me for actually caring about looking presentable. I guess you wouldn’t understand that concept. Seriously, do you even own a hairbrush, dude?”

“A hairbrush? The fuck? What does my hair have to do with this?”

“You’re kidding, right? You have a mullet!! Nobody has had a mullet since, like, 1980.”

“I don’t have a mullet.”

Lance laughed, reaching out to grab a piece of the Korean boy’s long dark hair between his two fingers. “Uhh, yes you do. Clearly you don’t own a mirror either, Mullet Man.”

The guy swatted the darker skinned boy’s hand away from his face. “Don’t call me that.”

“Don’t call you what? _Mullet Man?_ I think it suits you. Y’know since you’re the only person born in this century with a mullet.”

“Are you this much of a douchebag to everyone you meet? Or am I just lucky?”

“Oh, no. I’m only a douchebag to people who deserve it.”

“Right. I’m the one who deserves it. After checking to make sure you were okay, offering to help you up, and sincerely apologizing. Yeah, totally. I deserve it. Makes sense.”

“Listen. I don’t need your sarcasm. In fact, everything about your attitude has completely ruined my good mood, so if you’ll excuse me, I’m going up to my room before you manage to ruin my day even more. I’ll be taking the stairs again if you’d so kindly avoid shoving me down them this time!” 

In one swift motion, he hoisted his three large bags over his shoulders. Funny how much lighter they seemed when he had proper motivation. Motivation in the form of a hot Korean asshole watching his every move and searching for any sign of weakness. Tightening his grip on the bags, he clenched his jaw and shouldered his way by Mullet Man, one of the bags bumping into him as Lance passed. Maybe it was an accident. Maybe it wasn’t.

He could practically feel the daggers in his back from the glare Mullet Man was giving him as he trudged back up the stairs, but he forced himself to keep his gaze forward. He was vibrating with anger as he reached the third floor and waddled down the hallway, eyes ticking back and forth, scanning both walls for his room number. _314\. 316. 318._ A sigh escaped his lips. He couldn’t believe that orientation had barely even started and he was already itching to bite someone’s head off. Particularly Mullet Man’s head to be exact. _326\. 328. 330. Ah, finally._

He stopped in front of the door marked with a small gold 332 in the middle taking another deep breath. He reminded himself why he was so excited to be there in the first place. This was a time for new opportunities. A beginning to a new chapter in his life. There were so many possibilities that awaited him. So many new friends he could make. He couldn’t let this one idiot ruin that experience for him. He wouldn’t.

He shoved his room key in the lock and opened the door.

He was eager to meet his roommate. He loved meeting new people and he assumed that since he would be living with whoever this boy was for five days they would be pretty good friends by the end. After all, that’s what happend with him and Hunk. They were randomly assigned as roommates at their highschool back home and have been best friends ever since. 

A fresh wave of excitement rushed through his veins as he walked through the door, his friendliest smile spread across his face.

Unfortunately, his friendly feelings weren’t reciprocated.

His eyes scanned the small room as he exhaustedly dropped his bags onto the empty bed. He was slightly taken aback when he found his roommate sitting stiffly on the edge of the other bed staring straight across the small gap in the room at him. _Uh, you good bro?_ He faltered under the intense gaze before introducing himself. 

“Uh, h- hi, I’m Lance. I guess we’ll be roommates for the next few days, so it’s nice to meet you.” The enthusiasm in his voice quickly died out when he looked over at the small boy who hadn’t shifted an inch from his tense position across the room. A quick hello was his only reply.

 _Oooooh-kay._

He could’ve really used a little help there, ya know. After being completely humiliated not even five minutes before, his self-esteem wasn’t doing so great. He could’ve used some encouragement. A little reassurance that people actually did enjoy his company. Maybe some back-and-forth shit talking about a _certain_ dark-haired jerk who just loved ruining innocent people’s days. Y’know, nothing major.

But his little roommate was not giving it to him. _Great. Strike 2 for Lance today. Someone remind me why I was excited to meet these people again?_

“So, uh, what’s your name?” 

“Klaizap.” 

Before Lance could even react, he shot up from his bed like a launched mini torpedo and started hurrying his little legs over towards the door. Lance jumped in his skin, surprised at the sudden movement. 

“We should go now. You are here, so we should go. The information session starts at 11:30, so we need to leave.” He was rushing through his words like they scared him. He threw open the door and hurried out before Lance could even comprehend what he’d just heard.

He stood there for a moment, one bag still in his hand, staring at the open door. _What … just happened?? And … what the heck is up with everyone today? Am I really that hard to talk to? It’s only 11:12. Why the hell do we need to leave now? Can’t a guy even unpack?_

He just stood there for another minute, eyebrows knit in confusion. Even though he wanted to take the next few minutes to unpack and relax from his agitating morning he figured it would be best to save that for later and follow his wired up roommate out the door. As annoying as it would be sitting for an extra 15 minutes in the lecture hall before the info session even began he was at least happy that Klaizap had been passionate enough about the situation to say more than one word. _Progress._

With a sigh, Lance dropped his last bag and hurried out the door after him. 

He found his roommate waiting by the elevator and caught up to meet him right as the doors were opening. As he shuffled inside he tried to think of something - _anything_ \- to say to Klaizap that wouldn’t be immediately shot down with a one-word answer. _Maybe something like “Who on this planet names their kid Klaizap?” - in the politest way possible of course._

It took them a whopping two minutes to walk to the lecture hall that was right across the street. Fifteen minutes early they walked into the hall filled with mostly empty seats. _Great. Let the fun begin._

He tried to force the negative thoughts away in attempt to bring back the optimism that had so quickly abandoned him that morning. This was his time to shine. His time to make tons of new friends. People who would laugh at his jokes. People who would gawk at his dashing good looks. Definitely _not_ people who would push him down flights of stairs and then ruin his day. Not people who would piss him off endlessly and make him feel like trash. Not people who wou- 

_No, Lance, stop thinking about him! He is not going to ruin this. Positive thoughts. Good vibes. Fresh happy attitude._

He let out a heavy sigh and forced himself to let it go. That’s right. No more thinking about stupid Mullet Man with his bad haircut and sucky personality. He had other battles to tackle. Namely, his roommate.

He followed Klaizap down the aisle as he hurried straight to the front row. Front row wouldn’t have been Lance’s first choice of seating, but hey, his two best friends from home were nerds who had dragged him to the front of classes before, so it was something he could roll with. He watched as Klaizap carried a strange look of scared determination on his face the whole time, and he wasn’t sure if he should try to calm his nerves - _is it even nerves?_ \- or try to make him laugh and get that stick out of his ass. He figured he may as well at least try to get to know him. They did have 15 minutes still to spare. But that was assuming Klaizap would even talk to him. As strange as the little boy was, he would be living with him all week, so Lance had to at least try to strike up conversation. 

He didn’t get the chance to say anything before Klaizap whipped out his phone and started intensely playing a video game that fortunately Lance recognized even though he had never played before. 

“You play Clash of Clans? That’s pretty cool, dude. Looks like you’re really good at it.” 

Without looking up from his screen Klaizap gave him an absent minded reply. “Yes. It is interesting.” 

Lance wished he would’ve said what he found so interesting about it, or at least said something that could keep the conversation going. Hell, Lance would’ve even been happy to listen to the guy brag and gloat about his awesome skills at the game. But no. Klaizap said nothing. Just continued playing his game as if Lance didn’t exist.

With a sigh, he dropped his head into his hand, elbow resting on the arm rest, and whipped out his phone. _This is going to be a long week._

\----------

_**SirLancelot created a Groupchat:** Put me out of my misery_

_**SirLancelot:** Why does the world hate me?_

_**SirLancelot:** I’m dying_

_**SirLancelot:** Begin preparations for my funeral_

_**SirLancelot:** This is the end for Lance_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Oh come on, Lance. It’s not that bad._

_**SirLancelot:** Yes it is! Orientation is officially the worst! HOW did you even SURVIVE!??!_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Wow. You made it a whole 20 minutes_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Hunk, I believe you owe me $15_

_**SirLancelot:** Um, excuse?!_

_**SirLancelot:** HUNK!! You were betting against me too!_

_**SirLancelot:** I’ve been betrayed!_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Sorry buddy. We knew you’d crack sooner or later_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** I was rooting for you though! I thought you would’ve lasted at least an hour. Now you’ve lost me $15 so really I’m the one who’s been betrayed by you_

_**SirLancelot:** Nope. Nooope. No no no no_

_**SirLancelot:** You made the horrible mistake of betting against Pidge. Not my fault everyone here wants me to suffer_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Seriously though, Lance. Orientation isn’t all that bad. Pidge and I survived._

_**SirLancelot:** Yes it is worse than bad. It’s killing me and I’m dying. How do you have no sympathy for your dying best friend?!_

_**SirLancelot:** I swear it’s like everyone here is out to get me!_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** That’s because you make it too easy_

_**SirLancelot:** Um, excuse!!!_

_**SirLancelot:** You think that I, the fun-loving, charismatic, and completely INNOCENT guy did anything to provoke this harassment?!? _

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Okay okay, Lance chill out and just tell us what happened_

_**SirLancelot:** Well for starters my roommate wants absolutely nothing to do with me_

_**SirLancelot:** Everytime I try to talk to him he just shuts me down_

_**SirLancelot:** I think he’s said maybe a total of four sentences to me this whole time_

_**SirLancelot:** I’m not that hard to talk to, right??!!!_

_**SirLancelot:** Your lack of a response is concerning me_

_**SirLancelot:** HUNK?! PIDGE?! Am I that hard to talk to?!!!_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Geez it’s like I can hear you shrieking at me through my phone screen_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Tone it down drama queen_

_**SirLancelot:** Pidge!! :((_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** No, Lance you’re not hard to talk to. You just need to give us more than 5 seconds to type a response_

_**SirLancelot:** But why won’t he talk to me then?! I’m a friendly guy!!!_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Relax Lance, you didn’t do anything wrong_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Some people are just weird_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Like you_

_**SirLancelot:** HEY I’m not weird!!! _

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Anyway there’s gotta be something else that happened_

_**SirLancelot:** Of course there is!!!_

_**SirLancelot:** The first person I met today_

_**SirLancelot:** THE FIRST PERSON_

_**SirLancelot:** He was an asshole who ruined my morning and gave me multiple bruises _

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** What??? Did he punch you or something?! Lance, buddy, are you okay??_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** C’mon Lance, picking fights on your first day smh_

_**SirLancelot:** NO he did not punch me and NO I did not pick any fights!_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Okay you’re going to need to elaborate then_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Details_

_**SirLancelot:** Ugh, well I can’t give details right now!! The introduction lecture is about to start since SOME PEOPLE wasted my downtime by insulting me  >:(_

_**SirLancelot:** Looks like you’ll just have to wait until tonight to hear what happened _

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Oh no Hunk. Whatever will we do??? _

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Please, Lance spare me! The suspense is killing me! _

_**SirLancelot:** Okay, I know you’re mocking me so first of all, RUDE, but second of all you seriously need to prepare yourselves because I really have a lot of shit to say about this prick _

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Lance, you’re supposed to make nice with the other kids, not call them pricks_

_**SirLancelot:** He deserves it!!!!_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Somehow I find that hard to believe_

_**SirLancelot:** -_-_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Just wait. By the end of the night I’m sure you’ll realize that you’re just being dramatic and he really isn’t bad after all_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Hunk, you give Lance too much credit. He will never come to such a mature realization on his own. Even if he doesn’t still hate this guy by the end of the night, Lance won’t admit it_

_**SirLancelot:** RUDE!!_

_**SirLancelot:** Ugh, whatever, the first information lecture is starting now, so you’ll have to just leave me to suffer for the next hour in this misery alone. ITS FINE _

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Have fun with that_

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Later buddy!_

 

\-----------

 

Lance was exaggerating to Hunk and Pidge when he said orientation was killing him, but that was before he had to sit still for one hour in an uncomfortably hot and crowded auditorium listening to fake as fuck enthusiasm spill from the seven orientation leaders raving about how much fun orientation is. “You’ll meet so many great people!” _The only people I’ve met are arrogant assholes and high-strung little freaks. Oh so great._ “We’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to succeed as an Altea student!” _You’ve already told me more than enough info about Altea in just this past hour alone. Please stop before my brain explodes._ “We’re going to have so much fun here together that you won’t want to leave!” _Hunk and Pidge, I’m not exaggerating anymore. Seriously, I’m going to be dead by Friday._

“Now everybody listen up! We are going to be assigning you into groups with one of us as your designated leader so that we can carefully keep track of you all! These groups will stay the same all week and you’ll be together for most of the day so you can all become great friends! Get excited!!”

A pathetic murmur rippled through the audience as the students fake cheered for orientation to officially begin. Lance couldn’t help but groan. 

He followed the crowd of students as they all shuffled out of the auditorium to find their respective groups. Since he was unlucky enough to be seated at the front of the auditorium - _thanks Klaizap_ \- he was one of the last students to make it outside. All of the groups had already been mostly formed with around 15 people per group. He noticed only a few stragglers as he scanned the crowd, and spotted the small white sign that read **“Group B”** towards the back. He pushed his way around the other groups of students. 

As he approached the people that he would be spending an ungodly amount of time with for the next four days he tried to sneak a quick glance at all the new faces. His eyes first fell upon the older girl holding the group sign over her head. He immediately identified her as the leader since she was wearing the same obnoxious neon green T-shirt with “Altea University 2018 Orientation” spelled out in huge black letters on the front that all the orientation leaders were sporting. He remembered from the info session that her name was Casey. He didn’t remember anything special about her, though the closer he got the more he noticed something was on her face. 

A scar. He realized as she turned her head that it covered most of her face. It started at the top of her left eyebrow and burned all the way down to the opposite corner of her mouth. It wasn’t ugly in any way. Simply intriguing. Made her unique. Lance wondered where she got a scar like that. It painted across her face in a reptilian scaly pattern with shades of pink and white discoloration adorning her pale complexion. He couldn’t take his eyes off of it. 

He absently listened to Casey introduce herself as he fell into place next to her in the circle. He vaguely remembered hearing something about her being a senior, this being her second summer as an orientation leader, blah blah blah. His mind kept wandering back to the same question. _Where on earth did she get that scar?_ He was mesmerized.

It was only when she turned the attention over to the student standing on her right that he forced himself to stop staring. For the first time since he’d been there, he managed to shift his gaze and get at look at the rest of his group mates. 

They each were instructed to state their name, major of interest, and “one fun fact to break the ice!!” _I’ll be lucky if I can remember all their names, nevermind their majors and fun facts too._ They were only on the fourth introduction when he started forgetting names. He never forgot a face, but names … well those didn’t stick so easily. 

The guy who had just introduced himself was finishing up demonstrating his fun fact of shoving his whole fist in his mouth. Lance was smiling, mildly impressed with the feat. He turned his head to the next person in the group as they began introducing themselves. Instantly his smile dropped.

Lance froze. Heat pooled up into his face as anger boiled inside him. _Oh, you have got to be kidding me._

Flashbacks of his humiliating scene that morning raided his mind. He saw images of a dark figure running into him, a hand reached out to offer help, deep purple irises staring into his own, the same ones he could see perfectly in that moment directly across from him.

He felt like he was falling again.

_No. This is a joke. A seriously sick joke. I’m just having a nightmare. None of this is real and I’m going to wake up to find out orientation hasn’t even started yet. This can’t actually be hap-_

“My name is Keith.”

Lance was jolted out of his panic by the indistinguishable sound of Mullet Man’s voice. 

“Keith Kogane.”

Now there was a name he would _never_ forget.

_Out of all 7 groups he just has to be in the same one as me. This is great, just great._

“I’m double majoring in astrophysics and aerospace engineering.”

His jaw dropped. It was a good thing Mullet Man wasn’t looking at him. He knew he looked like an idiot, but at the moment he really didn’t care. _That’s my major! At least, it will be anyway. What the hell! I can’t believe this guy is trying to one-up me!!_

He stood there gaping as insecurity starting flooding his thoughts. At the time that he applied to Altea he hadn’t made up his mind about what he wanted to major in. He knew he wanted it to be something exciting, he just hadn’t figured out what yet. So he had to apply as an undecided major. He didn’t think it was a big deal being undecided. He got accepted into Altea regardless and knew he would figure it out eventually. Plenty of people were undecided, especially as freshmen, so really it wasn’t anything to feel insecure about.

Yet here he was listening to Keith sound all cool and intelligent announcing that he was double majoring in two of the most interesting and difficult majors at Altea. He couldn’t help but feel inferior. Compared to Keith, he would just look so average. _This isn’t fair. I’m just as smart as he is._ Lance scowled at him.

Keith’s eyes were wandering emotionlessly around the group as he spoke. “And I guess a fun fact is that I wasn’t born here in the US. I was born in Korea.”

That took Lance by surprise. He had expected that Keith would use his fun fact to gloat about some amazing talent he has just to rub in his awesomeness and pour salt into the open wound in Lance’s pride. But this… this was exceedingly innocent. And honestly pretty interesting. Lance had always loved the idea of traveling to new countries and learning about the world. Also, it was something they had in common. He was born in Cuba. His family immigrated to the US when he was just a kid. Aside from his grandparents and immediate cousins, most of his extended family still lived down there. He had always dreamed of going back to visit. To see the places he had vague childhood memories of. To reconnect with his extended family still living there. To see what’s changed since the last time he was there. _I wonder if Keith feels the same way about Korea…_

He forgot that he was staring. Actually, idiotically gaping with his mouth hanging half-open and his eyebrows scrunched in a frown was probably a more accurate description of the situation on his face. Either way, he didn’t realize this until Keith’s eyes stopped glancing around the group and landed unmistakably on his.

His intense glare matched Lance’s, although the dark-haired boy clearly had a much better poker face than he did. Keith’s expression looked nothing like the shocked, constipated, pissed off gremlin expression that Lance sported. He figured that Keith couldn’t have just spotted him for the first time in that moment. He probably noticed Lance the second he reached the circle while he was too busy staring at Casey’s scar like an idiot. The Korean boy looked completely unsurprised to see him standing there. Just looked at him with a cold blank stare that Lance found hard to decipher. _What is that asshole thinking about me right now?_. Lance wasn’t a total idiot though. Despite the indifferent facade, he figured Keith was feeling something along the lines of irritation and pure hatred. _Fantastic. “You’re going to become such great friends with your group members” my ass._

He was about to silently challenge Keith to a stare-off when he had the sudden realization that  
Keith was no longer the only one looking at him. _Shit. When did it become my turn?_ He had no idea how long he had been standing there obviously glaring at Keith, or how many people noticed. Naturally, he started stuttering. “I- I-, uh, hi. My name’s Lance.” _Smooth. Very smooth._

“I’m an undecided major.” He half mumbled wishing he could have something more impressive to say. _I can’t believe already my whole group is going to think Keith is better than me. Ugh, this isn’t fair!_

He figured his only chance of sounding cooler than Keith was to make his fun fact something incredible. He couldn’t use the I-was-born-in-Cuba thing. Keith already took that from him, too. _Asshole._ He needed it to be something big. His most impressive fun fact _ever._ Too bad he was so distracted by Mullet Man during all the other introductions that he completely forgot to think of what he was going to say. He had to go with the first thing that came to mind.

For him, that thing was swimming. And he just so happened to be an excellent swimmer. _Bingo._

“My fun fact is that I beat the state record for the fastest butterfly stroke by a whole 4 seconds during my last swim meet. Pretty cool, huh? I know, I know. Swimming is just my _thing_ , y’know?” He threw everyone his signature cocky smirk. It pleased him to see that Keith was very obviously rolling his eyes at Lance’s dramatics. That only gassed him up even more. Lance smirked at him, shooting him a wink for good measure. _Yeah, that’s right Mullet. Roll your eyes at me all you want. You’re just mad that I’m never going to let you one-up me. Nice try buddy!_

“That’s very impressive, Lance. Good job!” His orientation leader was throwing fake applause towards everyone’s fun facts. He didn’t care though. He liked the praise whether it was real or not.

But one thing kept bothering him. Keith’s reaction. He kept trying to convince himself that the Korean boy rolled his eyes like that because he was annoyed that Lance managed to look even more impressive than him. But Lance doubted that was really the case. Keith didn’t just look annoyed. He looked unimpressed. Rolling his eyes in a way that said, “I can’t believe this guy. He’s pathetic.”

Lance was pissed. _Who does this guy think he is, huh? That record was incredibly hard to beat! There’s no way he could’ve pulled off something as difficult as that. Yet here he is acting all superior like I’m worthless. Like it’s so ridiculous that I’m even bothering to speak. Seriously what is his deal?_

He spiraled into a flood of insecure and angry thoughts, blocking out everything the orientation leader was saying about the next info session they would be heading to - not that he would’ve payed attention anyways. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at his feet, pouting as he began walking with the group to the next lecture hall. 

_I told myself I wasn’t going to let him ruin this whole week for me. But now I have to look at his dumb face and hear his stupid voice every day. How am I supposed to survive this week if everything he does pisses me off?? Ugh, this is the worst! He is the worst. Stupid Mullet. Stupid orientation. Stupid Keith. Stup-_

Lance slammed hard into something solid. He was so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed when the group stopped at a crosswalk. When he looked up to see what - or _who_ \- he walked into he found himself staring at none other than Mullet Man himself. Keith turned around at the impact and glared at Lance with a look of murder. _Ah, Keith. Just the person I want to see right now. How lovely._

As much as he wasn’t sorry, he didn’t want to cause any _more_ problems than they already had. The week was going to be a living-hell even without his ever growing feud with Mullet Man. He didn’t need to make it any worse. With much hesitation he heaved a long sigh and mumbled a half-assed apology. He wasn’t even sure if Keith heard it. He didn’t care. 

“We just keep bumping into each other, don’t we?” Keith looked flatly at Lance as he spoke. His tone was empty. Nothing amiable. Nothing hostile. 

Lance felt like his brain was short-circuiting. He stared at Keith without a clue of how he should respond. As was tradition, he found himself stuttering. “Did - did you just make a joke?!?”

Keith didn’t say anything. Simply turned around to walk across the street with the group. Lance stood on the sidewalk trying to comprehend what he just heard. _Are we on joking terms now? Is that what this relationship is? When did this happen? What the fuck is going on?_

Lance couldn’t just let this go. He needed to figure Keith out. “Hey, wait a minute! Keith! Come back here!” He stumbled down the street after him. “So what’s your deal anyway? You one of those too-cool-for-school types who cares too much about their reputation? Is that why you look so stoic and brooding all the time? Or maybe you’re just one of those emos stuck in 2007 who still listens to MCR and Evanescence? My guess is both.” 

Keith glared at him out of the corner of his eye. “You just met me less than two hours ago. You know nothing about me.” 

“Oh, please. I’m a people person. Getting to know my colleagues is my specialty. That’s why I’m so easily likable. Unlike you who has the worst case of resting bitch face I’ve ever seen. Seriously dude, is your death glare just a natural expression for you?” Lance glanced up at him. “Yeah, I guess it is. But, hey, I’m not judging. Y’know, it really suits the whole angsty, rebellious teenager vibe you have going for you. What, with the black ripped jeans, bad haircut, and fingerless gloves? You’ve really nailed the 2000s emo teen look. All you need is some eyeliner and a leather jacket and you’ve totally nail-” 

“Do you ever shut up?” 

“Hey, I told you I’m a people person, Keith. That means I like to talk. I know that’s something you emos hate, but it’s my favorite quality.” 

“Yeah, sure. You’re a people person. And _‘that’s why I’m so easily likable’_. Coming from the guy who just managed to insult me at least 3 different ways within the last minute.”

“C’mon I’m just stating facts here. You’re the one choosing to dress this way. I mean, seriously dude? Fingerless gloves? Who even wears those anymore?” 

Keith stopped and turned his full attention on Lance. Their faces were just inches apart. He hadn’t ever been this close to those deep purple eyes before. They were directly in front of his, completely focused on him. Bearing into his own with a look so intense it made Lance want to curl up and hide just to escape the weight of Keith’s ruthless stare. But at the same time, he couldn’t bring himself to look away. Something about his eyes … They were intoxicating. Being this close, he realized that they weren’t entirely purple like he initially thought. They were dark grey. So dark that they almost looked black. But they were littered with hues of violet and lavender that shone in the sunlight and exaggerated their color. They were beautiful. 

Beautiful… but terrifying. 

“Hmm, who even wears fingerless gloves…. Let me think.” Keith placed a finger to his chin as he paused, thinking. Something about that seemed familiar to Lance… A blur of an object suddenly clouded his vision. A figure was shoved in front of his face. He yanked his head backwards at the flash of movement. After taking a moment for his eyes to adjust he realized that the thing in front of his nose was the back of Keith’s gloved hand, bare fingers wiggling around tauntingly. “I do.” Keith kept his hand in front of the Cuban boy’s face and curled all but one finger into a fist, his lips pulling into a smirk behind them. He walked away letting his hand linger in Lance’s direction, courteously flipping him off for a few seconds before completely turning away leaving a stunned Lance standing by himself. 

Lance watched as he walked off. Watched as the infuriating guy in his fingerless gloves had the audacity to flip him off and leave him in the dust as if he was too cool to even be associated with Lance any longer. _That motherfucking ASSHOLE. Screw trying to make peace. Screw being friendly with every one of your group members. That’s it. I’m just going to avoid Keith at all costs… Ha. Yeah right. If only that was possible. Ugh, this is the universe’s way of punishing me, isn’t it? I made fun of James Davis in fourth grade for being emo and now I’m suffering the consequences. Mamá was right. Karma really is a bitch._

\------------ 

“I’m telling you guys, aliens are totally real and they are out there somewhere!” Lance was leading a group of 5 students he had just befriended up to his dorm room. He met them on the first floor of the residence hall where most of the people were mingling. After all the info sessions were over for the day - _geez, finally, it felt like they lasted an eternity_ \- they were allowed to hang out anywhere in the building until curfew at 10:30PM. He overheard one particular group having a heated conversation about whether aliens were real or not. He couldn’t just let these poor souls go around thinking aliens weren’t real. He needed to educate them. 

“I don’t think so Lance. We don’t have any proof. I won’t believe it until I see one with my own eyes” the guy walking behind him countered. “Besides there isn’t a single other planet in our entire galaxy that has conditions sustainable for life to exist. It’s just not possible.” 

“It _is_ possible. You are just a non-believer. I never said the aliens have to be humanoid. That means there could be life on planets that are absolutely nothing like Earth. Also, who says they even have to be in this galaxy?” He turned around, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows at the group behind him. Yeah. He knew he made a good point. “Anyway, here’s my room. I didn’t see my roommate anywhere downstairs earlier and I’ve noticed he’s kinda into video games. I’m assuming he’s in the game room since it’s only 7:30. We should be good to chill in here for awhile until he comes back.” As he shoved his key into the doorknob he silently prayed that his roommate would not be in there. He had a hunch that Klaizap wouldn’t be too fond of having guests. He slowly pushed the door open a crack and peeked into the room. He let out a small sigh relieved to see the lights turned off. With a quick shove from his foot he swung the door open and flicked on the lights. He waltzed into his room and opened his mouth to say something when he noticed a small lump of a figure bolt upright on Klaizap’s bed. There was a small shout that got Lance’s attention. He realized with much regret that it came from Klaizap who was sitting up in his bed and frantically rubbing his eyes. 

“Oh, shit! Sorry, dude! Were you sleeping?” Heat began creeping up the back of his neck. _Oh great. Just one more way for me to embarrass myself here. Be the jerk who barges in on your sleeping roommate._

“No, no. I- I wasn’t sleeping!” Klaizap tried to hide the drowsiness in his voice. He had clearly been fast asleep - _at 7:30???_ \- and Lance had very obviously and rudely woken him up. 

He stood around like a stammering fool trying to make amends and not look like a total idiot in front of the people standing behind him, though he was pretty sure he had already done that. “Shit, man, I’m sorry! I’ll let you go back to sleep. Uh - ” He quickly flicked the lights back off and turned around not sure how to acknowledge the fact that he was a dumbass and they could no longer stay in his room. _So much for impressing my new friends._ One of the other guys sensed Lance’s embarrassment and just laughed it off. “Hey it’s no biggie. We can go to my room instead. My roommate kinda keeps to himself, so I’m sure he’ll be in there, but he’s a chill guy. I’m sure he won’t mind.” With a sigh of relief Lance quickly stepped out of his room and shut the door behind him. “Thanks man.” 

As they walked down the hall to the other room that was surprisingly only a few doors over he couldn’t help but feel like he had ruined his first day at orientation. Everything was going so wrong. Sure, he had made some pretty cool friends to hang out with, but that didn’t quite make up for the fact that he just kept on managing to embarrass himself. He had somehow made two people dislike him so far, one of them being his fucking roommate, the other being a guy with insultingly good looks and a shitty personality. And it was only day one. _This is so not going according to plan._ He trudged along behind the rest of his friends. Head hanging a bit lower. A lot less vocal in the conversation. 

Lance hardly noticed when they reached the room. He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets, leaning against the cool cement wall while his friend walked in and started addressing his roommate. Lance could vaguely make out words from the sound of his friend talking on the other side of the wall. “Hey, man. Do you mind if we have some people chill in here with us for a little while?” There was a pause before the roommate replied. “Yeah, sure. I don’t mind.” Something nagged at the back of Lance’s mind. Something about the roommate. That voice. That voice was all too familiar. A deep husky voice that he hated to admit he recognized. One that subconsciously made his whole body fill with dread. _Oh no. You have got to be fucking with me right now. I swear if I walk in that room and see the person who I think is sitting there … No. Just no. I really don’t have the patience for this anymore._

Reluctantly, he pushed himself off the wall and filed into the room behind the others. He took one step in and immediately regretted his decision to look up. Large, dark purple irises. The same ones he saw looking down at him from the top of a certain staircase that morning. The same ones he saw behind a hand wearing a fingerless glove that was flipping him off earlier that day. They were staring at him once again, this time accompanied by the meanest scowl Lance had ever seen. 

_The universe just hates me, doesn’t it? How many times is this going to happen to me?! I mean really, three times in one day?! I finally make some friends and he just has to be here to ruin it for me. This is just cruel._ He felt his face subconsciously fall into a pout. He stood there in the doorway, both boys glaring at each other in a silent stand off for a few seconds, neither one sure what to say or who would talk first. 

Lance was almost visibly shaking with irritation. He wanted nothing more than for this wretched day to be over. 

Mullet Man was the first to speak. Except it wasn’t directed at Lance. He turned to address his roommate with a bitter tone. “Actually I was just about to leave anyway. You guys can have the room. I’ll be back later.” He got up from where he was lounging on his bed and headed for the door. 

As much as Lance hated the guy, he couldn’t help but feel a small tinge of guilt. He didn’t want to force this guy out of his own room, even if he was a total jerk. His roommate must’ve been thinking the same thing. He reached out a hand, grabbing Keith’s arm before he could leave the room. “No, wait Keith! I don’t want you to feel like you have to leave just because we’re here. Seriously you should stay and hang with us.” Lance could practically feel the uncomfort creep across Keith’s face. The Korean boy clearly did _not_ want to be in that room. But regardless, Keith continued to confuse him. Just when Lance was starting to think he was able to read what was going on underneath that mullet, Keith still eluded him. He gave his roommate a small nod and stayed put. 

_Great. Just great. I’m gonna have to look at his stupid mullet all night._

He felt his anger growing. It had been a long ass day. The last thing he wanted was to spend the rest of the night with this douchebag. Seeing Keith’s face again was like tearing open a wound and pouring salt all over it. He grimaced even more. 

How the _hell_ could his friend think _Keith_ was a chill guy? He was the exact opposite to Lance, and Lance had done nothing wrong! Well, okay. _Maybe_ Lance was being a bit of a douche too, but that didn’t make Keith any less of an asshole. The more he thought about it, the less he managed to keep his anger under control. Before anyone had even settled into the room he lashed out. 

“Okay, just tell me one thing. One thing. That’s all I ask. What the hell makes you so nice to everyone except for me, huh?” It came out a lot meaner than Lance had intended, but he wasn’t really surprised. 

“What? Are you joking? I _was_ nice to you! Until you started attacking me like I was the biggest dick on the planet!” Keith turned his full attention back on Lance, boring into him with a glare like daggers. 

“Uh, because you _were_ being the biggest dick on the planet!” 

Keith snorted. “That’s funny coming from you.” 

“At least I wasn’t the one who shoved you down a fucking flight of stairs!” 

“I told you that was an accident, dipshit! Are you so conceited that you can’t get over someone making a mistake?” 

Lance laughed at that. This was perfect Mullet Man. So cool and standoffish. The guy who acts like he’s better than everyone else. And he was admitting he actually made a mistake? Lance couldn’t believe his ears. “Huh, you Mister I’m-Better-Than-Everyone are actually owning up to a mistake? Admitting you’re not as perfect as you think you are?” 

Keith didn’t get the chance to retort because he was interrupted by a member of their audience who had fallen under a stunned silence since the outburst. Lance had entirely forgotten that they were even there. 

“Woah guys, chill out! What the fuck is going on with you two?” Keith’s roommate had placed himself between the two teenagers, quizzically looking back and forth between them. 

Keith spoke up first before Lance could get the chance to explain the situation from his perspective. _Asshole._ “He hates me because when I was coming down the stairs this morning I turned the corner too fast and ran into him before I saw he was there. I tried to grab him to stop him from falling, but under the weight of the 20 bags he was carrying he tipped over and fell down the stairs.” 

_Oh, please_. He was clearly trying to make himself sound so innocent. Lance was outraged. “Yeah, except you forgot the part where you were being a complete jerk about it!” 

Lance took a step towards Keith, raising his arms and getting up in his face. Keith’s roommate interjected again. “Okay, stop! You both need to calm down. I mean, seriously guys? It was just an accident. I see why you’re both mad, but honestly this is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. Keith dude, I know it was an accident, but can you just apologize so we can move on from this?” The guy was practically begging. 

“I did apologize. The second after it happened. Except this douche decided to yell in my face like I did it on purpose instead of letting me help him up.” Keith pointedly glared at Lance for probably the 50th time that day. 

“Please, like I’d ever want _your_ help. You had already “helped” enough.” 

Keith huffed in frustration, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. If Lance hadn’t been completely ticked off at the guy, he almost would’ve thought the action was kinda cute. Almost. 

Too bad the guy was a complete jerk. 

And to make matters worse, Keith’s roommate was growing more and more annoyed with each passing second. He practically screamed at the two bickering teenagers. “Okay, whatever guys. That is enough. Both of you need to just get over it and move on. It doesn’t matter anymore. It happened. I don’t care who’s fault it was or who was a bigger asshole than who. Just drop it!” 

A heavy silence hung in the air. The whole room was tense. For the sake of not making any more enemies than he already had, Lance obliged. Reluctantly he sighed, nodded his head, and joined the others who were still sitting silently sprawled around the room. Keith made no other comment. He shot one last glare in Lance’s direction, and went back to sit on his bed. 

Lance lost track of time pretty quickly. Despite the fact that Keith had been in the room with them all night, Lance managed to turn his awful mood around. He really liked his new friends. They were fun and easy to talk to. The tension that crowded the room after his heated outburst with Mullet Man had somehow vanished as they all settled back into a normal conversation. 

Minutes passed. Then hours. Eventually they stumbled back upon the topic of aliens that they were so intensely bickering over before they came up to the room. Lance had always been a competitive guy and he never bothered hiding that fact. He still needed to win this argument. Needed to show these people he was right. 

What he needed was an outside opinion. A new person that hadn’t been there for the beginning of the discussion. He raised his eyes, tracing the outline of Keith’s figure as he battled with himself whether this was a good idea or not. Reluctantly letting his competitive side get the best of him, Lance called out to the dark-haired boy lounging on his bed. 

“So Keith, we found ourselves divided earlier, three against three. We need you to settle this argument once and for all. Aliens. Real or not real?” 

“Easy. Real.” Keith responded without any hesitation. Stated it simply and cleanly like it was fact. Big, dark eyes boring into Lance’s own like a challenge. 

Lance blinked. “Wow, that’s the first sensible thing you’ve said all day.” 

Keith scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I know I’m not exactly your favorite person, but that doesn’t make me an idiot. Aliens are definitely real.” 

“THANK YOU!! I’ve been trying to convince these idiots over here for like an eternity, but they’re just in denial. It’s exhausting trying to educate these poor ignorant souls.” 

The guy sitting next to Lance looked at him sideways. “Ouch Lance. That was cold.” Lance just laughed. 

Keith sat up in his bed with a look of renewed interest on his face. It was possibly the first time all day Lance didn’t feel like Keith was about to rip his head off. _He kinda looks cute when he doesn’t wanna kill me. … wait what? No no no no Lance you hate this guy remember?? NOT cute. Definitely not cute._

“Wait. So you people actually believe that we are alone in this universe? This giant ass universe that literally has no end to it? How could we possibly be the only living things in all of existence?” Keith knit his eyebrows together like he was genuinely confused how anyone could not believe aliens were real. _Cute … NO! Not cute. Not cute. NOT cute._

Lance’s face lit up. “I know right!! There’s no way! Out of all the planets in galaxies light years away it doesn’t make any sense that there isn’t one that could sustain life. It wouldn’t even have to be anything like Earth! It could be a planet made out of lava or some shit and there could still be some crazy life form swimming around that can only survive in extremely hot temperatures or something.” 

A smirk spread its way across Keith’s face. “Lava fish?” 

Lance felt himself smile. “Not just simple fish, dude! Sharks! Killer whales! Oh man, can you imagine those things swimming around in lava? How cool would that be?!” 

“That would be pretty awesome.” Keith was smiling now too. _Why does he look so pretty when he smiles?_ “They’d totally be able to destroy us though. We would be the inferior alien race.”

“No way, man! We could totally kick their asses if we needed to. Just shoot them with some ice. They’d die in seconds!”

Keith shook his head. “Shoot them with ice? On a planet made entirely out of lava? The ice would just melt, idiot.”

“Well, we could lure them out of the lava! Then shoot them with ice, trapping them and freezing them to death. I’m tellin’ ya it would work.”

“Okay, okay, but even if we somehow managed to lure them off of their safe-haven planet _and_ invent some sort of ice laser powerful enough to freeze a lava-breathing creature in ice, how do you know it would kill them? These are aliens we’re talking about. They could be resistant to extreme hot _and_ extreme cold at the same time.”

Lance shot his arms up in the air, waving them around in excitement. “Exactly! This is what I mean, the possibilities are endless! This just proves that there _has_ to be some other form of life somewhere out there in the universe. There are too many possibilities for other life to exist. We can’t be the only ones!”

“Agreed.”

“Aliens are real. Case closed.” Lance crossed his arms feeling satisfied with himself, an easy smile spread across his face.

He opened his mouth to start gloating about how he told everyone from the start and how he had just totally convinced them all of aliens existence, but the words caught in his mouth when he realized the room had gone silent. He looked around to see all his peers staring wide-eyed and stifling laughs looking back and forth between him and Keith.

“What?”

The guy sitting to his right spoke up. “It’s just funny that you two were ready to strangle each other when we first got here, and now look at you.”

Lance froze. The realization came crashing down on him like a ten ton wave. This was Keith he had been talking to. _The_ Keith who tackled him down the stairs just that morning. _The_ emo edgelord who stole his major and flipped him off earlier that day. _That fucking asshole._

But somehow during the time they had been talking, Lance completely forgot that this was the same guy. _This_ was the little shit who ruined his first day at orientation. He almost couldn’t believe it.

Lance _should’ve_ still been pissed at him. But he thought back to when he was just talking with Keith. He had practically forgotten that anyone else was even in the room. The two of them were so invested in their conversation that Lance nearly forgot how much he wanted to punch Keith and instead just kept talking. _For some reason I actually like talking to him. But he’s still an asshole who humiliated me at orientation. I could try to be friends with him though, because he is pretty cool. Nah, fuck that, I’m still pissed at him. Am I though?_

_Ugh, it’s too late to think about this shit right now. My brain hurts._

Lance just shrugged and locked eyes with Keith. “I actually don’t hate you right now.”

Keith just rolled his eyes and flopped backwards to lay on his bed. His brooding stare returned to his face, but Lance could’ve sworn he saw a small smile spread across his lips, even if it was only there for a moment.

 

\-----------

 

_**SirLancelot created a Groupchat:** How will I survive four more days of this misery?_

_**SirLancelot:** I still hate him._

_**TheIncredibleHunk:** Suuuure you do buddy_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** What did I tell you, Hunk?_

_**NotYourPidgeon:** Lance, you melodramatic stringbean, you are way too predictable_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Lance just can’t catch a break lmao. Things will get better for him tho, I promise :)
> 
> You probably noticed I use some Spanish when Lance interacts with his family. I haven’t spoken Spanish in full conversation in about 3 years so I’ve forgotten a decent amount of it and don’t fully trust google translate so I’ve done my best, and I apologize if my translations are wrong! Feel free to correct me in the comments if I’m not right. I appreciate your feedback!
> 
> ALSO COMMAS ARE MY WORST ENEMY I NEVER KNOW WHERE THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO GO. I’m pretty sure there are at least 80 commas in there that are not correctly placed so IM SORRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME
> 
> Didn't really expect this chapter to be this long, but I think for the most part there will be some lengthy chapters! Hope you like it so far! Let me know what you think :) Next chapter we’ll get Keith's point of view!!!


	2. Chase Me Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _**ZeroToShiro:** Keith, I know the info sessions aren’t all that great, but orientation surrounds you with so many new people. You could make some really great friends here_
> 
> _**ZeroToShiro:** Please tell me you’ve at least tried talking to someone_
> 
> _**KKogane37:** Yes, I have._
> 
> _**KKogane37:** And it has led me to a very important conclusion_
> 
> _**KKogane37:** People suck._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **Notice:** I’m moving into college tomorrow, so between classes starting, clubs and extracurriculars, and my job, I’m going to be pretty tied up for the next few weeks as I get settled in for the new semester and get back into the groove of balancing everything. That being said, it will probably take a bit longer for me to get the next chapter out, but I promise I will update as soon as possible!!
> 
> I’m back for now with some more orientation struggles, this time from Keith’s perspective! I was only planning on doing one chapter for orientation, but I couldn’t fit everything I wanted into the last chapter, soooo I’m going to finish it off in the next one. The rest of the fic after that will be college life as usual ;) Klaizap makes a return here and I gotta say he’s one of my fav characters to write. This chapter is longer than the last one, so strap in bois!! Hope you enjoy :)
> 
> (As always, you can find me on on other platforms! Instagram: @blades.of.voltron Tumblr: blades-of-voltron)

Keith woke up in a puddle of sweat. Droplets ringing the underside of his neck, shirt and bedsheets clinging to him like a second skin, heat radiating off his body with nothing to cool him down. He’d never been more uncomfortable in his entire life. The dorm rooms that Altea University had provided them with for orientation were absolute garbage. The bed was a slab of concrete. The walls were covered in years worth of questionable stains and so many layers of dust Keith could’ve buried himself in it. Every inch of the worn-down wooden furniture could give you an entire hospital’s worth of diseases just from touching it once. And to top it all off, Keith had to stay there for five nights in the middle of 95 degree July with no air conditioning. Lucky guy.

He opened his eyes, blinking a few times and squinting to adjust to his dark surroundings. Judging by the faint streams of silver moonlight arching through the blinds he guessed it was somewhere between 4 and 6 in the morning. Peeling each limb off the bed sheets, he groggily sat up rubbing his hands over his face. Fortunately (or maybe it was unfortunately), he was used to getting only a few hours of sleep a night. Late to bed, early to rise. Falls asleep eventually but can never stay that way for long. Yeah, he was one of those. Insomnia was a burden that had been with him for as long as he could remember. It was just a part of him. He managed to deal with it and carry on everyday just fine regardless. But in times like this, it was a real pain in the ass. He’d certainly had his vast collection of bad days before, but in that moment he particularly felt like shit. The events of the day before seriously exhausted him, and the conditions of his little dorm room didn’t exactly help. He sat there for a moment quietly in his bed trying to think of how on earth he would survive even one more day in this hell, let alone four.

With a yawn he stood up and stretched his arms over his head. His loose T-shirt did not rise with the movement, instead clung to his chest, moist and constricting. Letting out an irritated huff, he dropped his arms. _This place is going to end me. I need to get out of this burning hell of a room before I suffocate._ He peeled the sweat-stained shirt off his body and headed to the bathroom. 

The chill of the shower water bit at his skin. Cold streams running down his back, eyes closed, he waited until his body temperature lowered and the fresh coat of sweat had washed down the drain. As he rinsed himself off he counted down the blissful minutes until he would need to return to his suffering. If only he could stay there under the water forever… 

With a sigh, he forced himself to turn the water off and grab his towel. Somehow he felt even dirtier than he did before he got in the shower. Funny how that works. Through lidded eyes he examined the tile walls and single transparent shower curtain that made up the lame excuse for a shower he was standing in. It was even more disgusting than the room he had just slept in. A giant wad of black hair was growing out of the drain. Keith wouldn’t have been surprised if the hair-creature was alive. The shower head was wrapped in a sheet of red and green moss like a cute little flower crown - that is, if the flowers were replaced with fungi and it was in no way cute at all. Half the tiles were coated with dirt - at least, Keith _hoped_ that was dirt. The walls were sprinkled with a thick white substance that looked suspiciously like semin. Keith knew he wasn’t exactly the _cleanest_ person in the world, but even for him this was beyond disgusting. He crinkled his nose and stepped out of the shower.

_Thank God I am not living here this year. If I had to use these nasty ass showers every day, or sleep in these hot as hell rooms, … or deal with assholes like Lance who just come barging into my room at night … no. No way could I ever do that._

Shaking his wet head, he crept back into his dark room, the only source of light coming from the lock screen of his phone as dawn approached. _5:30AM_ lit up the top of the screen. His roommate was lightly snoring somewhere off to his left. Shoving his phone into his pocket, he felt his way towards his bed and flopped down onto it.

He peered out the window as the first rays of sunlight were starting to peek over the horizon. Regardless of how tired he was, he was always awake before the sun was up. It never bothered him before. He enjoyed the quiet in the early hours of the morning. There was an eerie calmness to it. It allowed him to think and enjoy time alone while everyone around him slept. Well, everyone except Shiro. His brother was the only person Keith ever found awake as early as he was. The two of them often spent at least part of their mornings together, whether it was making breakfast - _“Shiro! You’re burning the bacon!!” “Oh relax, a little bit of charring won’t kill you.” “You call that a_ little bit _of charring?” “Okay, so maybe a lot of charring. Y’know what? I suddenly am in the mood for sausage this morning.”_ \- , or going for a run - _”Keith slow down! We’re going for a run not a sprint.” “What’s that, old man? Sorry I can’t- I can’t hear you”_ \- , or simply watching the sun rise - _“Keith, look it’s getting brighter outside.” “Shiro, I swear if you impersonate Princess Anna one more ti-” “But Keith! The_ sky’s _awake, so_ I’m _awake, so we have to_ play!!!” _“You are dead to me”._ On second thought, maybe ‘calm’ wasn’t the best way to describe it. But that was their norm. And Keith wouldn’t trade it for the world.

As he watched the dark purple sky change into shades of red and orange he wished Shiro were there. At least then he would have someone to talk to or something to do. But no. He was trapped at Altea’s never ending orientation. They wouldn’t be called for breakfast until 7AM which left him with an hour and a half to stare at a dark ceiling and listen to his roommate’s snores. _Well isn’t this just thrilling?_

He was considering sneaking out to go for a run when he felt a vibration in his pocket. _Speak of the devil-_

 

\----------

 

**_ZeroToShiro:_ ** _Goodmorning, Keith!_

_**KKogane37:** Shiro, I swear._

_**KKogane37:** Don’t even ask._

_**ZeroToShiro:** Keith, please. I just want to check in with you_

_**ZeroToShiro:** But since I know how much you don’t want me to ask, as your loving older brother I want you to know that I am absolutely going to ask anyway_

_**ZeroToShiro:** So …_

_**ZeroToShiro:** How was your first day?_

_**KKogane37:** I’m sighing right now_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Oh, Keith. It isn’t that bad! I know it isn’t really in your comfort zone, but this is a good experience for you_

_**KKogane37:** It’s not just me! I swear it sucks for everyone. Literally everyone hates orientation_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I didn’t hate it_

_**KKogane37:** Yeah, but you’re you. That doesn’t count_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Fine. Tell me what’s so bad about it then. I’m sure it’s not as awful as you think_

_**KKogane37:** It’s a fucking nightmare is what it is_

_**ZeroToShiro:** That is a rather extreme exaggeration_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Keith, I know the info sessions aren’t all that great, but orientation surrounds you with so many new people. You could make some really great friends here_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Please tell me you’ve at least tried talking to someone_

_**KKogane37:** Yes, I have. _

_**KKogane37:** And it has led me to a very important conclusion_

_**KKogane37:** People suck._

_**ZeroToShiro:** Keith_

_**ZeroToShiro:** That’s not how you make friends_

_**KKogane37:** I don’t want to make friends if they’re assholes_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Were you being an asshole to them?_

_**KKogane37:** … _

_**KKogane37:** Only because they were an asshole first. It was self defense._

_**ZeroToShiro:** Keith, you can only justify it as self defense if they were physically attacking you_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I don’t want to pester you over this. I won’t ask for details. But you still have four days left. I don’t want you to be miserable the entire time_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Please promise me that you’ll at least try to be nice to whoever this asshole is_

_**KKogane37:** … Okay, fine Shiro._

_**ZeroToShiro:** :) _

 

\-----------

 

Keith shoved his phone back into his pocket and closed his eyes. The image of Shiro’s message still burned in his mind. _“Please promise me that you’ll at least try to be nice to whoever this asshole is.”_

_Yeah right, Shiro. How the hell am I supposed to be nice to Lance? He’s insufferable._

This was exactly the reason why Keith had been dreading orientation all along. He hated meeting new people. Actually, he hated most human interaction in general. Somehow people always managed to get on his nerves. People like Lance, specifically. He was perfectly content with solely the company of his brother, his one good childhood friend, and their older brother. Those were the only 3 people he needed in his life. That was it. No one else to piss him off. No one else to make things complicated.

Unfortunately, that meant Shiro, being the responsible older brother he was, was always getting on Keith’s case about branching out more - _“Keith, you can’t live your whole life with me as your closest and practically only friend.” “Yes, I can, and I will.” “You need a social life. Please, go out and have some fun for once!” “Leaving the peace and comfort of my bedroom to interact with narcissistic assholes is_ not _my idea of fun. No thanks, Shiro.”_ \- Those conversations were never fun. 

Keith went into orientation knowing that he wasn’t going to make any friends. He never did. That was how it had been for the past 18 years of his life, and he didn’t feel the need to change that. He was fine with it. He liked it that way. But what he didn’t expect was that within the first 20 minutes of being there he would make a - what would he even call Lance? An enemy? A rival? Whatever they were, it was nothing close to friends. Keith’s plan was to lay low and hide from attention like he always does. Keep to himself, not associate with people, get by unnoticed. Yet somehow he found himself lying in the dark for an hour with nothing else crossing his mind but the face of a certain tall, Latino, arrogant prick who single-handedly managed to destroy Keith’s don’t-interact-with-people plan almost instantaneously. _This is why I hate people. People in particular with pretty faces and shitty personalities. People who uncoincidentally have the name Lance._

He quickly lost track of how many minutes passed, nearly jumping out of his skin when the sound of his roommate’s alarm tore through the silence. _I guess my peaceful morning hours are over. Let the headache begin._

The morning antics were a blur. As he wandered the hall he could hear the craze of a hundred students attempting to wake up and get ready for the day in under 10 minutes. A different alarm rang through the doorway of every other room he passed. The communal bathroom was a madhouse with every shower, sink, and toilet in use. Keith escaped down to the first floor dining hall as quickly as possible to spare himself the last few minutes in peace before 7AM hit. 

He wandered around the deserted dining hall entrance and noticed a giant potted plant placed directly in front of what appeared to be some sort of hidden crevice. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Keith quietly crept behind the plant and found himself facing a long, narrow wall that was made entirely of glass. Near the bottom was a giant windowsill just big enough for one person to lounge on - two if they squished up against each other. _Perfect._ Leaving no time to waste he stretched out across it and gazed outside.

His breath hitched at the sight. The sun was just beginning to fully rise above a huge lake in the center of campus with two fountains spraying water on the east and west ends. Sheets of green grass spread out in a vast circle around the lake where he imagined he would find groups of students playing frisbee and spikeball come the fall and spring. Just beyond the lawn, countless buildings lined the outskirts of the campus, and far beyond them Keith could just barely make out the fields. Huge fields of corn and wheat. So large you couldn’t see anything else for miles in any direction. They completely surrounded the campus, making Altea University feel like its own mini city, isolated from the outside world. Keith liked that about it. It made the giant campus feel a bit more like home. It was arguably one of the most beautiful things he’d ever seen. He could’ve stayed there all morning watching the sun rise over the glistening water. But he was all too soon ripped away from his sanctuary when 7 o’clock hit, and he found himself trudging along with the other students like a herd of cattle into the dining hall.

Noise. It hit him like a truck. Sudden and loud, it slammed into him like tidal waves. Walking through the double glass doors was like entering another dimension. He could hardly hear himself think. Plates clanging. Food sizzling. Drinks slurping. And of course, all the talking. More like screaming, in Keith’s opinion. _Jeez, what the hell is everyone rambling about already? It’s literally 7 in the morning, y’all just woke up ten minutes ago, there is no way you have this much to talk about._

Weaving in and out of the crowd, trying his best to block out the headache-inducing sounds, he headed for the food. He didn’t make it five feet before he saw the mile-long lines and stopped dead in his tracks. _Nope. Fuck that._

He turned on his heel and made a beeline in the opposite direction, swiping a banana from a nearby fruit basket as he passed. _Good enough for me._ Breakfast in hand, he crept his way towards the exit and scanned the area for Casey. When he found the back of her pigtails bobbing around animatedly above the crowd he quickly ducked out the doors before anyone noticed, escaping back to his windowsill sanctuary to allow himself a few more minutes in peace. Easing himself back into his lounged position at the window and releasing a small sigh, he peeled open the banana and took a bite. He let his head fall against the glass, the once overbearing roar of the dining hall now muffled to a distant murmur. There was only so much chaos he could take. He needed the peace of silence to revitalise him. He needed to save his energy for the real battle that would come that day. That real battle being social interaction. What a fucking nightmare. 

It wasn’t that Keith hated _all_ interaction. He didn’t necessarily want to be alone _all the time_. Contrary to popular belief, he wasn’t just some brooding loner who hated everyone, though people loved to assume. He actually enjoyed spending time with his friends. Sure, he didn’t have very many friends and there was no denying that he loved having time to himself; that much was true. But he also found comfort in being around the few people he trusted. The few people he cared about. Those few people though, were about as far as his introverted ass would go. It took a lot for strangers to break through to Keith. No, not just a lot. It took a miracle. He didn’t trust them, didn’t care for them, and quite frankly, wanted nothing to do with them. He felt it was better for everyone if he just never interacted with anyone outside his friend group. Naturally, that was impossible. He knew that, but it didn’t mean he had to like it. He compensated by making his social interaction with strangers as limited as possible, and maximizing his alone time. But there were always situations where doing that was exceptionally difficult. Unfortunately for him, orientation was one of them.

He just barely had time to finish eating his banana before his peace was disturbed once again as everyone spilled out of the dining hall. _Seriously? What, do they give us like 5 minutes to eat breakfast?_ He pulled his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen. It now spelled 7:08AM across the top. _Figures._ With a sigh he heaved himself off the windowsill and reluctantly joined the rest of the students as they scrambled to meet with their assigned groups. 

When he approached his group he had the unfortunate luck of immediately locking eyes with Lance. The look Keith received from the blue-eyed boy was one of sincere disdain. _I guess a good night’s sleep wasn’t enough to get this guy to forget how much he hates me, huh?_ He just sighed and dropped his gaze. _It is way too early right now. I don’t have the energy for this shit._

He looked up at Casey and tried - was he really trying though? - to pay attention to what she was saying. He was sure it was at least mildly important. Probably had to do with what their plans for the day were. But for some reason, probably his lack of sleep and coffee, he just couldn’t bring himself to listen to her. He guessed it didn’t really matter; he would be lying if he said he cared. If it was really anything important, he would find out what he missed eventually. 

He stood there, not even trying to pretend to listen as he let his eyes wander. They drifted from one unfamiliar face to the next, hardly even registering what they were seeing. That was until they landed on the one familiar face in the bunch. Luckily, this time Lance’s attention was not directed towards Keith. He let his eyes settle, drinking in every detail of the Cuban boy’s relaxed composure . 

Okay, so yeah. Objectively, Lance was attractive. Keith could admit that; he wasn’t blind. His eyes trailed down the tanned body, allowing himself to secretly admire it without being shot by Lance’s scrutinizing glare in return. Lance had short brown hair that complimented his darker skin tone. His small, dark blue eyes were nice to look at (when they weren’t shooting daggers at Keith), but they were nothing compared to his smile. Keith had only seen it once or twice. It was not something he did a lot when Keith was around. But the couple times that Keith saw him flash that brilliant and somewhat annoying cocky smile he felt like he wanted to melt. It just wasn’t fair. _All the attractive guys just have to be straight, or assholes, don’t they? Or even better, they’re both, like Lance probably. Just my fucking luck._

Keith figured it was for the best though. He guessed Lance was just the type of guy he looked like. The perfect embodiment of everything Keith had always avoided. Your cliché fuckboy. Obnoxious, attention-grabbing personality. Charming, sweet-talker to all the ladies. So fucking hot it should be illegal to look like that. The kind of guy who plays his cards and plays them right. The one who has you wrapped around his finger after a single conversation. The one who is so impossibly good-looking it makes you physically weak whenever you see him. The one you objectively know you should avoid because he simply _oozes_ trouble, but you can’t help but get your hopes for the chance this one might be different. Only they’re never different, are they? They are all so pathetically the same. So much so that you’d think you’d never fall into another one of their traps again. But somehow it’s almost impossible to stay away even though you know you should. And he knows this. He knows he can play you like a rag doll anyway. So naturally, he gets what he wants from you, then treats you like shit. 

_Nope. Nuh uh. No way am I letting myself near that fuckboy. He needs to stay the hell away from me. I am not going to let myself fall for his fuckboy charm. No. Fucking. Way. Not again._

_… Although, since I’m completely aware that he’s a fuckboy and a complete asshole, it can’t hurt to simply look at him and enjoy the eye candy, right?? I know there’s nothing to get my hopes up for. I know he’s just another douchebag. He’s probably straight anyway. So there’s no harm in just enjoying the view. Right???_

His eyes continued to trace Lance’s figure. He was wearing a pair of casual khaki shorts that showed off his long, thin legs. Long was an understatement. This boy had legs for days. Toned and tanned. Tall and gorgeous. _God damn you, Lance._ His torso was covered by a loose bright blue tank top that completely exposed his toned arms and broad shoulders. Keith remembered Lance’s fun fact was that he was a good swimmer. Looking at his chest in that little shirt, he could see why. _Okay, maybe it isn’t such a good idea to look at him after all._ Keith dared a glance up at his face once again. He had his attention still directed at Casey, wearing a bored, tired expression like a little puppy trying to stay awake after a long day of playing. _Aww he looks cute. Wait, shit. No no no this isn’t cute, fuckboys are NOT cute, they are assholes!!!_ Above his _completely not cute_ face he had a pair of brown sunglasses perched in his tousled hair. His left wrist was adorned with multiple multi-colored string bracelets. Altogether he looked so effortlessly perfect. Like he didn’t even have to try to look this amazing. _Fuck you, Lance. Ugh, why am I so weak._

Keith managed to tear his eyes away before his thoughts wandered into more dangerous territory. He glanced down at his own attire. It was much less intriguing than Lance’s. Simple, plain, and dark. That was just his style. He had on his signature black jeans with rips running up the front. He owned about 5 pairs of these exact pants since he pretty much wore them all the time. At least his shirt was a little different than usual though. Instead of wearing one of his classic plain black shirts he sported a dark red tank top that clung tightly to his body to keep him as cool as possible in the unforgiving summer heat. In place of his typical black, fingerless, leather gloves he simply had two dark brown leather bands around his right wrist. A typical summer Keith look.

He raised his gaze back up to where Lance was standing and was slightly panicked to find that he was no longer there. Lance was walking into the circle. Walking directly towards Keith. 

The dark-haired boy stood there, eyebrows knit and eyeing Lance. _Why the fuck is he walking towards me? Honestly what could he possibly be up to now??_

Keith vaguely made notice that Casey had stopped talking at some point during his zoning out. He shot a quick glance around the group, desperately trying to get an idea of what was going on. The group meeting was clearly over. _How did I miss that?_ Everyone in the group was now wandering around, talking freely with each other. _Another stupid ice breaker already? Ughhhhh… but wait. Then why is Lance coming towards me? We already know each other … unfortunately._

He turned his gaze back in front of him and was met face-to-face with none other than the fuckboy himself. The look on Lance’s face radiated utter suffering. The kind of look a toddler gives his mother when he’s being dragged to a dentist appointment against his will. The kind of look that not only accepted sudden death, but _welcomed_ it. It was not an attractive look on him. _Well, at least he doesn’t look like he wants to murder me at the moment. I’ll take it._

He just stood there looking like he was in pain. He didn’t say anything - a shocker, honestly - but the look on his face screamed, _“Why me?”_ He stayed there in front of Keith, awkwardly fidgeting and tapping his fingers against his thigh. Keith had no idea why he was standing there. It appeared Lance was going to stand there in maximum discomfort all morning unless Keith said something to break the painful silence between them. _Ugh, okay fine. I’ll bite._

He let out a sigh, crossing his arms over his chest. “What do you want, Lance?” He sounded more tired than hostile.

The Cuban boy’s eyebrows shot up, taken off guard by the question, but only for a moment. They quickly knit in confusion.

“What do you mean, _‘what do you want’_? You know why I’m standing here.” His face fell into a pout as he started grumbling to himself something that Keith thought sounded like “Believe me, I wouldn’t be if I didn’t have to.”

_If you didn’t have to? What on earth is this idiot talking about?_

He raised an eyebrow. “Umm, no. I actually have no idea why you’re here. So just tell me.”

“Seriously, Mullet Man, do you have to be difficult about everything? This already sucks enough as it is.”

“What do you mean? Yeah, I know orientation sucks, but what does that have to do with me? I already apologized for yesterday, like, _3 times._ ”

“Dude, can you just stop messing with me for, like, 5 seconds?! I’m never gonna get anything done with you if you act like a child!”

“What on Earth are you talking about? _I’m_ the one acting like a child? Try looking at yourself because clearly you don’t even know how to have a normal conversation since you are making _no fucking sense_ right now!”

Lance huffed, crossing his arms to match Keith’s stance. “I don’t even know why I bother trying with you.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Look, Lance, it’s early and I _really_ don’t have the patience for these games right now. Just tell me what the fuck you want.”

“Dude, _seriously_? Were you not listening to a single thing Casey just said?”

Keith paled. “Uhhh…” It was pretty obvious that he hadn’t been paying attention at all. At the time, he didn’t really care enough to listen to whatever bullshit Casey was droning on about. He was starting to regret that right about now.

Lance groaned and rolled his eyes. “Wow Mullet, you really weren’t paying attention at all, huh? Ugh, you are so hard to manage. Seriously, what did I do to deserve being paired with _you_ of all people. You, with your stupid haircut and bad attitude. I’m a nice guy, I shouldn’t have to be responsible for _your sorry ass_ who can’t even listen to Casey for five minutes! What did I ever do to deserve this? I mean I know there was that kid in fourth grade, but really I think this is a bit of an extrem-”

“Wait, what?! Lance, shut up and stop rambling.” Keith’s brain felt like it was short-circuiting. Piecing together what Lance was trying to say was like trying to translate hieroglyphics. “What do you mean you’re paired wi-”

“Just give me your phone.” He shot his hand out in front of Keith, eyebrows raised, waiting.

The dark-haired boy jerked back slightly at the sudden movement. Taking a second to realize what Lance wanted he smacked his hand out of the way. “What the fuck? No. Why would I give you my phone?”

Lance yanked his hand back and scowled. “Because, _gilipollas,_ I need your contact information. And you need mine.”

He stated this like it was incredibly obvious information. Like Keith was just some annoying child asking dumb questions. Keith knew he wasn’t paying attention during the meeting, but still none of this made any sense to him. _Am I missing something important here? What is his point to all of this?_

“Why do you need my contact info?”

“Oi, you really are a bigger dumbass than I thought.”

“Lance, just stop being a little shit for one second and tell me!”

“Well, if you would’ve just listened to Casey in the first place then I wouldn’t have to! But clearly you are incapable of the most basic functions, so I have to baby you. She put the entire group into pairs so that she can keep better track of all of us and save time whenever we meet. We have to be responsible for our “buddy” to make sure they are always with the group. And I need your contact info because I’m supposed to call you if you go missing.”

_Wait a second… the group has been put into pairs… and he needs specifically_ my _contact info because… oh, fuck._

“Hold on. You’re telling me that the two of _us_ were paired together as “buddies”?”

Lance sighed. “Yep. I know, I know. The universe just _loves_ to torture us for some reason. I’ve pretty much just accepted it at this point.”

_Well isn’t this just fantastic. I really am going to wind up killing him, aren’t I?_

Keith shut his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This may just be the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard. It literally takes 10 seconds for Casey to check for herself if everyone is here. This buddy shit is so unnecessary.”

Lance put his hands on his hips and locked eyes with the other. “I think it’s a pretty good idea actually.”

“Of course you do.” Keith rolled his eyes. 

“That’s because it is! It’s so much faster for her to just say ‘Is everyone’s buddy here?’ and if we all say yes then we’re good to go. She won’t have to waste her time calling out all our names.”

“Yeah, and what happens when two people who are each others buddies are both not there? Then nobody would say their buddy was missing and the group would leave without her knowing she’s missing two people. There’s literally only 14 of us to keep track of. She’s just being lazy.”

“No, Mullet, obviously that’s jus- … wait that’s … actually a good point. Then there would be two people missing and she wouldn’t even know! Holy shit! And what if it happened to more than one pair!? Then there’d be four people missing and she’d have no idea!!”

“Woah there, buddy. I think at least _someone_ would notice if four if us were missing. But yeah, you get the idea.”

The two boys jumped when Casey’s voice interrupted their conversation. “Alright everyone! Now that you are acquainted with your buddies we are going to head over to our first info session of the day, so follow me!”

Groaning, the pair reluctantly trudged along with the rest of the group behind Casey. Making sure that he was far enough away from her, Lance leaned in close to Keith and whispered to him as they walked.

“Y’know, I’m honestly not really that surprised that you weren’t paying any attention to her this morning. Her voice just drones on and on and practically puts me to sleep. I’m pretty sure I only actually hear every other word she says.”

“You’re telling me. I can’t focus on even one single word she says, let alone every other.”

“Seriously, man. It’s the worst. And whenever we get a break from her boring ass group meetings it’s only because we are thrown into another lecture hall for 3 hours and I want to gouge my eyeballs out. Not even kidding I think I might die of boredom by the end of this week,”

“You and me both. These info sessions are killer. I don’t think I can stand sitting in another lecture hall for five hours listening to the statistics of how many students find the library useful. ”

Lance threw his arms up. “I know right? Like, who the fuck cares about that shit? They’re literally just wasting our time _and theirs_ with this mierda inútil.” He shook his head and sighed exasperatedly as he let his arm go limp, falling back down and slapping against his sides. 

Keith glanced over at him. “With _what_?”

Lance looked back, one eyebrow raised in question. “Hm?”

“What was that you just said? It didn’t sound like English.”

Lance blinked. “Oh! Uhh, heh yeah, right.” He turned his head away from the other a brought a hand behind his head, scratching at the back of his neck. “ _Mierda inútil._ It just means ‘useless shit’. It’s Spanish.” He dragged his hand down the side of his neck letting his head fall back as he searched for more words. The faintest flush of pink crept its way across his cheeks. “It’s, uhh, I- well, I kinda do that sometimes by accident. Speak in Spanish I mean. My whole family is fluent in both English and Spanish, so we kinda use them interchangeably. Occasionally I let some words slip into conversation and I forget that not everyone actually understands what I’m saying. Sorry about that.”

The dark-haired boy shook his head. “Nah, don’t be sorry, it’s cool. I’ve always kinda wondered what it would be like to be bilingual.”

“Wait… you’re _not?_ ”

Keith blinked. “Uh, no?”

“Oh, I guess I just kinda assumed, y’know since you mentioned yesterday that you’re from Korea.”

He hesitated before answering. “I said I was _born_ in Korea, I hardly actually lived there though.” Another pause. “My parents and I immigrated to the States when I was just a baby, so I only grew up learning English.”

Lance nodded his head slowly. “Hmm, I see. Well, you said you’ve always wondered what it’s like to be bilingual. You can use your heritage as motivation to learn Korean! And then you could go visit the rest of your family there!”

Keith dropped his gaze to the pavement as he walked, voice suddenly soft. “Yeah, I guess I could.”

He hoped Lance couldn’t see through the lie. It had been a long time since he thought about his distant family. They didn’t mean anything to him. They were nothing but empty spaces in his mind, their only connection to him being an open wound ripped across his heart. One that after 18 years still lingered in the pits of his self consciousness. One that would likely never be healed. One that took shape in a foggy memory of a figure with long black hair, large dark eyes, and the warmest smile he could imagine. He spent years learning to live with it. He trained himself to conceal his emotions - a little too well at times - and forced himself to move on. In time, he learned to accept his family for what it was. Family was Shiro. Family was his parents. Family was his best friend, Pidge. The people left in this world that actually shared blood with him were no more family to Keith than strangers were. He had accepted that. He had moved on. So would he ever want to visit Korea? His homeland? His birthplace? No. Why would he? There was nothing there for him. 

But Lance didn’t need to know that. No one did. It didn’t matter anymore.

“Keith?” Lance’s voice came pouring through his thoughts.

Keith blinked himself out of his daze. “Wh- what? Sorry, I kinda zoned out.”

Lance let out a breathy laugh. Keith tried to ignore the fact that it was disgustingly cute. “I can see that. You’ve been doing that a lot this morning. Did you not get enough sleep or something?”

“Nah, I’m used to not getting a lot of sleep. Last night was exceptionally bad though.”

“Ugh, don’t even get me started! Those rooms are literally hell, it was like 1000 degrees in there. I felt like I was laying in an oven and slowly being baked to death. I’m, like, 99% confident that it’s abuse to lock us up in non air conditioned buildings in 95 degree weather. I sweat through 2 shirts! Do you realize how much extra laundry I’m going to have to do by the end of this week! I swear they better- … ”

Keith glanced over at Lance waving his arms around and shaking his head dramatically as he rambled on. He just couldn’t figure out what was going on in the blue-eyed boy’s head. One minute he wanted to strangle Keith, and the next he’d be having casual conversation as if their entire relationship wasn’t based off of mutual animosity. Keith wasn’t sure how, but it almost seemed as if the hatred was gone and now they were - dare he say - _tolerating_ each other?? _Maybe he’s just trying to be civil with me since we’re ‘buddies’ now and we just have to deal with it? Or maybe after a whole day has gone by he realised that he’s just a big drama queen and he’s finally forgiven me for knocking him down the stairs? Eh, who am I kidding? He’ll never forgive me for that._

“Earth to Keith!! Stop zoning out on me, Mullet!” Lance waved a hand frantically in front of the Korean boy’s face.

“Sorry, sorry! I didn’t have any coffee this morning. It’s not like I _want_ to be awake during any of these lectures anyway, so there was no point.”

“Alright, alright, you make a decent point.” Lance raised his hands in yield, a soft chuckle escaping under his breath. “Anywayyyy though what I was _trying_ to say for the second time now is that I still need your contact info. Technically I am supposed to have it, y’know in case you go rogue. Which, knowing you, I’d bet is highly likely.”

Keith rolled his eyes. “Sure, here.” He grabbed his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. “And I’m not gonna go rogue.”

“Yeah, okay Mullet. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

He ignored the comment as he searched through his phone. He hesitated with his thumb hovering over his most recently used app. “Do you use Balmera messaging app?”

Lance just scoffed and snatched the phone out of Keith’s hands. “Have I been living under a rock? Of course I do, dude, literally everyone does. Though I’m honestly surprised that _you_ use it, y’know considering that you’re still living in the 2000s.” His fingers expertly flew across the keyboard and handed the phone back before Keith could retort. “There, now you have my number, you lucky guy.” Keith didn’t even have to look at Lance to know he was smirking at him. 

“I’ll try to contain my excitement,” Keith deadpanned. “Now give me your phone so I can give you mine.”

“No need. I already have it.”

Keith blinked, unsure if he should be creeped out or impressed. “Umm, how?”

“I sent myself a message from your phone, idiot.” Lance wiggled his eyebrows obnoxiously at Keith.

Rolling his eyes, the Korean boy raised his phone to read the message Lance had sent to himself.

 

\---------

 

_**KKogane37:** Hey, sexy_

_**KKogane37:** You come here often?_

 

\---------

 

Keith fought the urge to strangle him on the spot.

“Really? ‘Hey sexy’??? And probably the cheesiest pickup line in existence?”

“Hey, according to my messages, _you_ said that pickup line, not me.” He whipped out his own phone and flashed the messages in front of Keith’s face. “Aaaaaand you think I’m sexy.”

“In your dreams, Lover Boy.”

Lance’s lips quirked into the most frightening smirk he had ever seen. He gave Keith a wink and turned his head to the phone screen as he rapidly began to type. _Oh no, what is he up to now?_ Keith cringed as he imagined whatever absurd message he was going to get in response. But the message never came. Lance’s fingers abruptly stopped typing as his mouth fell open. Eyes wide, he slowly turned to Keith, a look of pure horror on his face.

“Keith.” His tone was deadly serious. “Please tell me this is a joke.” 

Keith sighed. “I have literally no idea what you’re talking about, but since this is me we are referring to right now, I’m just going to take a wild guess and say no, it probably isn’t a joke. So what’s the problem?”

Lance waved his arms around his head. “What kind of username is that!?!!? There is no way I’m going to believe that you seriously picked _that_ monstrosity as your username!!”

Keith blinked. “Lance, it’s literally just my name with some numbers on the end. That’s it. It’s pretty normal last time I checked.”

Lance shook his head so many times Keith thought it might fall off. “Nope, no no no no you- no you don’t. That is not - let me repeat - _NOT_ how you pick a username. Where’s your sense of creativity?!”

Keith was too stunned to even answer. _Is this guy for real?_

Lance grabbed Keith’s phone out of his hand without warning and began furiously typing away. The dark-haired boy lunged after it, smacking at Lance’s lanky arms, but his phone was just out of reach. “Stop hitting me, Mullet. Relax, I’m giving it back. Here.” Keith snatched it out of his grip, shooting a glare his way before looking at his phone to see what the culprit had done. 

 

\----------

 

**_Kkogane37_ ** _changed their name to **LanceIsAHottie**_

 

\----------

 

Keith had to physically restrain himself from murdering the blue-eyed boy. He practically threw his phone at him. “Change it back, _now_.”

Lance wasn’t even trying to contain his laughter. “Aw, c’mon, Keithy boy! This one is so much better than your old one!”

Keith turned sharply and stopped directly in front of the other, cutting off their motion as the rest of the group continued on ahead of them. He glared into Lance’s eyes. The look on his face was one that could murder. “I said, NOW, Lance!”

The Cuban boy flinched at the sudden confrontation, face falling into an angry pout. “Okay, okay, jeez. I was just messin’ around. Fine, change it back to your lame ass username, I don’t care what you do. You aren’t cool enough to have a fun username anyway. Here, fix it yourself, whatever.” He shoved the phone back in Keith’s direction, sidestepping around him to start walking again. Keith reached out to grab his phone, but hesitated, his next words caught in his mouth. He looked around, not sure what to do. Lance turned his head back, one eyebrow raised, waiting for Keith to take the phone. Keith, in his conflicted state, decided to lunge for the phone before anymore damage could be done. Better it be in his hands where he could fix it later. He hoped Lance didn’t notice why he hesitated, but the phone was jerked away from his reach at the last second.

Regretfully, Keith looked up at Lance. He had a look of pure mischief on his face. _Oh, shit. He totally noticed._

“Wait a second. You don’t even know how to change it, do you?!!”

The lack of a response was all Lance needed for confirmation.

“Oh _man_ , this is too good! I have so much power over you, Mullet! Ha! You’re never getting this phone back. I’m gonna give you the greatest username ever and there’s nothing you can do about it! It’s gonna be awesome, just you wait!” He took the phone in his hands and sprinted to the front of the group, Keith immediately trailing after him yelling a collection of curses and tasteful insults. 

Luckily, Keith was fast. He caught up to the thief almost immediately and tried to snatch the phone back, grabbing onto the blue-eyed boy’s arms once again.

“Agh, why are you still fighting me, Mullet? What’re you gonna do when you grab your phone back, huh? Change your username back?” He taunted and wiggled his eyebrows at the defeated dark-haired boy who slowly lessened his death grip. 

“Stop mocking me, asshole. I’ll figure it out eventually.” He peered over the other’s shoulder to see what his new username was now.

 

\---------

 

**_LanceIsAHottie_ ** _changed their name to **HijoDePuta**_

 

\---------

 

Keith faltered at the name. He sounded it out in his head, trying and failing to pronounce the anomaly that was spelled across his screen. “Hi- Hijo de puta??” Lance almost fell over from laughing so hard. Keith did not look amused. “Lance, what the fuck does that even say? I don’t speak spanish, idiot!”

He could hardly speak through his breaths of laughter. “Ah, an- and that’s w- what makes it so perfect! I think you should keep this name. It suits you.”

The victim stood there staring at him, arms crossed over his chest and pouting. 

The blue-eyed boy managed to console himself and glance over at the other. “Aw, don’t look so sad, little Mullet! C’mon, what happened to your cool, confident composure? Y’know, your I’m-Keith-Kogane-better-than-everyone attitude? No more tough guy, huh? You just look like a cute little puppy now, all helpless and confused.” He let out another laugh.

Keith was taken aback by the comment. His mouth curled up into a smirk despite the biting comments Lance had just thrown his way. “Oh? You think I’m cute, huh?”

He watched as Lance’s eyes widened just a fraction. His smile dropped as he looked for the words to respond, but none came to him. Keith chuckled as shades of pink crept into Lance’s cheeks. He didn’t say anything, simply turned around and ran away from him once again, frantically typing away on the phone. 

Keith just sighed, shaking his head as more breaths of laughter escaped his mouth. _I swear he’s like a 5 year-old in an 18 year-old’s body. What did I do to deserve being stuck with him this entire week?_

As he started to chase after him _yet again_ he vaguely noticed for the first time that they were making a scene. Two 18 year-olds chasing after each other and fighting over possession of a phone like a couple of toddlers. Surrounded by a group of college students. On a college campus. During their college orientation. _Well, Lance started it._

The dark-haired boy dodged his way around cranky students as he shuffled his way through the group in hot pursuit of Lance. A few heads in front of him he spotted the culprit weaving in and out of the group. A few heads further in front of Lance were Casey’s ridiculous pigtails, large and obnoxious as ever, bobbing above the small crowd. She had just reached the entrance of a building - _ugh, finally. That was like the longest walk ever_ \- and shoved her way through a set of double doors into the lecture hall, Lance shortly behind her. When Keith reached the doors he practically barreled into the girl in front of him. The group was following Casey in a single file line into two rows on the side of the lecture hall. Keith slowed down his pace just in time, and agitatedly started trudging with the group down the aisle. As they filed into the first row, Lance snatched the last seat on the end, as the rest, including Keith, were ushered all the way into the middle of the row directly behind it. _Great. No easy escape for me._ As Keith shuffled into the row, Lance turned around in his seat and flashed a smile, tossing the phone back to the Korean boy as he walked by. Keith made a quick grab for his mobile device, shoving it into his pocket before Casey spotted it. He trudged along the dark row, plopping down with a sigh when he reached the middle seat as the rest of his group filtered in after him. 

Sixty seconds in and the darkness of the lecture hall was already taking its toll. Sinking into the plush seat in a dark auditorium at 8:00AM with no more Lance bickering in his ear, he could already feel his eyes beginning to close. _These next three hours are going to kill me._

When the auditorium had filled and the lecture presentation began, he pulled out his phone, hunched over in his seat in attempt to block out as much light from it’s screen as possible, and dared to look at his messages.

\----------

 

**_HijoDePuta_ ** _changed their name to **DUMBLittlePuppy**_

_**DUMBLittlePuppy** changed their name to **IAmNotCute**_

_**IAmNotCute** changed their name to **EmoTrashKid**_

_**EmoTrashKid** changed their name to **UglyMullet69**_

 

\----------

 

Keith shook his head, letting out a sigh much louder than he meant to. Paranoid, his head quickly snapped up, eyes glancing to his right where Casey was sitting just a few seats down the row. Her eyes were glued to the presentation. Her large pigtails bobbed ever so slightly as she nodded along to everything that was being said. Keith let out a softer sigh, this time in relief. She hadn’t heard him. _Thank God >_. The _last_ thing he needed was to get his phone taken away by yet _another_ nuisance. Casey was pretty annoying about phones for some reason. They had only been there one day so far and he had already seen her confiscate two of his group members’ phones during the info sessions. There was no way he’d be able to survive if she took his away. That would be the worst fucking nightmare ever. The real cherry on top of an already miserable week.

When he was sure that he was safely out of Casey’s view as she was intently watching the “Sharing Spaces: How To Get Along With Your Roommate” video that was being projected at the front of the lecture hall, he turned his focus back to his phone and opened a new message.

 

\----------

 

_**UglyMullet69:** Shiro_

_**UglyMullet69:** I need your help_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Uh… Keith?_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I see you have a new username_

_**UglyMullet69:** Please, don’t comment. Just help me fix it_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I have to ask_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Why UglyMullet69??_

_**UglyMullet69:** I don’t know!! I didn’t do it, and I need you to tell me how to change it back_

_**ZeroToShiro:** You didn’t do it … ?_

_**UglyMullet69:** Correct._

_**ZeroToShiro:** So you’re saying… somebody else took your phone, went into your messages, and then changed your username to this??_

_**UglyMullet69:** Yes._

_**ZeroToShiro:** Okay…_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I have several questions_

_**UglyMullet69:** Several questions that you are not going to ask for the sole reason that you are instead going to tell your suffering younger brother how to FIX HIS DAMN USERNAME_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Oh, Keith. Do you even know me? What kind of vile older brother do you think I am?_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Of course I’m going to ask anyway :)_

_**ZeroToShiro:** So first of all, why on earth would you ever give your phone to someone? _

_**ZeroToShiro:** You hardly even talk to people, though I’m very glad to see you are starting to branch out. You never even let me use your phone_

_**UglyMullet69:** I didn’t give it to him, he just took it from me and then made fun of my username, so he took it upon himself to change it _

_**UglyMullet69:** But the point here is_

_**UglyMullet69:** I don’t know how to fix it, so I need you to HELP ME_

_**ZeroToShiro:** You really don’t know to change your username on here? It’s not that complicated, Keith_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I’ve seen you solve some of the most complex differential equations while simultaneously proving Newton’s Laws of Motion_

_**ZeroToShiro:** But this? This is something you can’t figure out?_

_**UglyMullet69:** Shiro, P L E A S E_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Okay, okay, fine I’ll tell you how to do it_

_**UglyMullet69:** Finally, thank you_

_**ZeroToShiro:** But first just humor me and answer one more question_

_**UglyMullet69:** Ughhhhhhh_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Was the guy who did this the same ‘asshole’ from earlier?_

_**UglyMullet69:** Take a wild guess_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I’m going to assume that means yes_

_**UglyMullet69:** …_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Keith_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I thought we talked about you trying to get along with him_

_**UglyMullet69:** We were getting along_

_**UglyMullet69:** Kind of_

_**UglyMullet69:** At least, I thought we were _

_**UglyMullet69:** But it’s not my fault that he’s an annoying little shit who likes to steal my phone just to torment me_

_**ZeroToShiro:** I’m sure you’re just making him seem worse than he actually is. It sounds to me like he’s just trying to have some fun_

_**UglyMullet69:** Yeah, well he has a much different idea of fun than I do_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Keith. You said it yourself, orientation is boring as hell. So do yourself a favor, and try not to hate this guy so much, okay? You never know, you may just actually wind up having fun with him_

_**UglyMullet69:** Look, Shiro. I appreciate the life lecture. But believe me, I’ve been sitting through enough lectures in the past 24 hours to last a lifetime. I do not need another one_

_**UglyMullet69:** Seriously, you don’t have to worry about me_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Okay fine, Keith_

_**UglyMullet69:** Now, will you PLEASE tell me how to change my username?!?_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Honestly, it’s a wonder how you even manage to survive on your own sometimes…_

_**UglyMullet69:** S H I R O_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Okay, okay, fine_

_**ZeroToShiro:** Here’s how you do it _

 

… … … 

 

\-----------

 

**_UglyMullet69_ ** _changed their name to **FuckYouLance**_

\----------

_**FuckYouLance:** Really, Lance?_

_**FuckYouLance:** UglyMullet69?? That’s the best you could do?_

_**SirLancelot:** In my defense, I was running and only had your phone for like 30 seconds _

_**SirLancelot:** Let me tell you, it was not an easy task_

_**SirLancelot:** But UglyMullet69 was a damn good username if ya ask me. How could you change it :((_

_**FuckYouLance:** I told you I would figure it out eventually_

_**SirLancelot:** I honestly still can’t believe you didn’t know how to do it in the first place_

_**SirLancelot:** You, sir, are a true disappointment to youth culture_

_**FuckYouLance:** I think I’ll get over it._

_**FuckYouLance:** The really unbelievable thing here is that you gave me back my phone so soon_

_**FuckYouLance:** I thought you’d just hold onto it so you could torture me for as long as possible with your shitty username ideas_

_**SirLancelot:** Okay, first of all, they are NOT shitty, they are fantastic and completely accurate_

_**SirLancelot:** And yeah, normally, you would be right about that other part_

_**SirLancelot:** But we are gonna be sitting silently in this lecture hall for at least 3 hours. I knew you would need your phone to survive_

_**SirLancelot:** Even I’m not that mean ;)_

_**FuckYouLance:** Wow, I didn’t think you were capable of being nice to me_

_**SirLancelot:** Um, EXCUSE?!_

_**SirLancelot:** I am plenty nice to your sorry ass, Mullet Man! You should be grateful for my wonderful company thank you very much_

_**FuckYouLance:** Right. Of course._

_**FuckYouLance:** How could I ever think the guy who just set my username to ‘son of a bitch’ is anything but nice to me??_

_**SirLancelot:** … _

_**SirLancelot:** You couldn’t even pronounce that!! How did you figure out that’s what it means??!!_

_**FuckYouLance:** Google translate is a thing that exists, Lance._

_**SirLancelot:** Shit_

_**SirLancelot:** Well that one is still SO MUCH better than the lame one you have now_

_**SirLancelot:** Which btw I take much offense to _

_**SirLancelot:** So might I just say_

_**SirLancelot:** RUDE_

_**FuckYouLance:** That’s good. It worked_

_**SirLancelot:** wOW okay Mullet Man, I see how it is _

_**SirLancelot:** Here I was thinkin there was hope for us to get along as buddies_

_**SirLancelot:** But whatever, I guess not, ITS FINE _

_**SirLancelot:** If you wanna play dirty, I guess I’m just gonna have to report you to Casey for using your phone during the info session_

_**FuckYouLance:** Lance … _

_**FuckYouLance:** You are literally texting me from your phone right now _

_**FuckYouLance:** She would just take your phone too, idiot_

_**SirLancelot:** Nah, she’ll never catch me on my phone. I’ll call you out for it and she’ll be so preoccupied with taking yours that there’s no way she’d ever even know I had mine out_

_**FuckYouLance:** Lance. You do realise that you’re sitting directly in front of her._

_**FuckYouLance:** Seriously, how has she not noticed you yet? You’re right in front of her face. I can even see the light of your screen from all the way over here._

_**SirLancelot:** Keith, buddy, my man. You underestimate my abilities. I am the master of stealth. I almost never get caught._

_**FuckYouLance:** Emphasis on the almost._

_**SirLancelot:** Don’t you worry, Keithy boy. There’s no way she’s gonna get this phone. You’ll have three whole hours of quality Lance conversation time. You sure are one lucky guy. _

_**FuckYouLance:** Is it possible to talk someone to death over text message?_

_**FuckYouLance:** Because I think that’s what you’re doing to me right now_

_**FuckYouLance:** I gotta say I’m mildly disappointed in myself. I always imagined I would die in a much more exciting way_

_**SirLancelot:** Okay, listen here you lil shit. You’re gonna be grateful for my company. Just you wait until hour 2 hits during this lecture. I’ll be the only thing keeping you alive, Keithy boy. _

_**SirLancelot:** C’mon, how do you feel being blessed with the entertainment of none other than me?? ;)_

_**FuckYouLance:** Ecstatic. _

_**SirLancelot:** Okay, so I know that was sarcasm, but I’m just gonna pretend it wasn’t for the sake of m _

\----------

Keith stared at the last message in confusion. _Why does it look like he just stopped typing mid thought? The fuck?_ He glanced over at the other boy to see what he quite possibly could’ve gotten distracted by. 

That’s when he saw it happen. Casey looming over Lance with her hand stretched out. The blue-eyed boy sheepishly locking his phone and placing it in her open palm. Casey stashing the mobile device in her bag before turning back to her seat. Lance sulking in utter defeat. 

It took everything in Keith’s power not to burst out laughing from the scene. He was visibly shaking from the stifled laughter as he watched Lance turn around to face him with a look of pure despair on his face. Locking eyes with him, the Cuban boy began acting out his sorrow. With large hand motions and the ugliest, most-exaggerated crying face Keith had ever laid eyes on, Lance made a scene of wildly rubbing at his eyes, wiping nonexistent tears away through shaking shoulders, pretending to sob uncontrollably. Keith couldn’t handle the dramatics. He burst out laughing. His hands shot up to his mouth in attempt to muffle the sounds coming from his mouth, but it was no use. The damage had already been done. Every head within a 20 foot radius in the quiet lecture hall turned his way. Still looking at Lance, he couldn’t bring himself to stop laughing. Well, not until he saw Casey waddling through the aisle towards him. _Shit._

His phone was still in his hand, his messages with Lance spelled out across the brightly lit screen. He desperately tried to stash it in his pocket before she reached him, but it was too late. He felt like he was experiencing deja vu as Casey stood over him, hand stretched out in a silent demand for his phone. Reluctantly he passed it to her.

As she walked back to her seat with her prize, Keith glanced back at cause of his outburst. Lance was the one trying not to laugh now. Hand clamped over his mouth, shoulders bouncing up and down, eyebrows raised and wide eyes glued on Keith. The dark-haired boy just sulked back into his seat. Shaking his head, he crossed his arms over his chest and locked eyes with Lance. He lifted a finger and pointed it directly at the other. They were far enough apart that they couldn’t talk without yelling, so he mouthed his threat, not caring if Lance would understand him or not. _“You. Dead to me.”_

Regardless of whether the blue-eyed boy actually knew what Keith said or he was just guessing, the point was taken. Lance turned himself around almost completely in his seat, raising his arms in a challenge to Keith as he mouthed back his response. _“Bring it on, Mullet!”_

Casey had just about made it back to her seat. Before sitting down she leaned over and angrily whispered something to Lance, pointing a stiff finger towards the front of the lecture hall. Keith watched as his face went emotionless, he stiffened, and turned around to sit properly in his seat, signaling the end of their silent conversation. She turned her head back towards Keith, shooting one last glare at him just to make herself clear before settling back into her own seat. _Fucking tyrant._

Keith sighed and raised his gaze to the clock on the wall. In the dim light of the room he could just barely make out the numbers 8:15AM. _Great. 15 minutes down, 165 to go. Might as well start digging my grave now._

 

\----------

 

Casey was just finishing up telling them about the “amazing labs found in the newly renovated engineering building!!” when she stepped into the center of the group. They were standing in the corner of a large open field just behind Naxzela Lecture Hall. The bright green grass stretched out undisturbed for hundreds of feet in each direction, closed off in a large square courtyard surrounded by four giant school buildings, one looming over each side. The sun shone high and bright in the sky, sailing directly above them as noon approached. Keith fidgeted under the intense rays, standing shoulder to shoulder with two guys from his group as they listened to Casey ramble. With every breath, he subtly inched his weight to his left in attempt to save his nose from the assaulting stench of BO wafting from the guy on his right. _Does this dude even own deodorant??_ Keith supposed he couldn’t really blame the guy though. Even his own thin tank top was starting to darken with specs of sweat. Mother Nature must’ve _really_ been feelin’ herself that day. Hot was an understatement. The sun beat down on his neck. Little drops of sweat trickled down the skin under his mop of dark hair. Of all the days he could’ve forgotten to grab a hair elastic, it just _had_ to be this one, didn’t it? His eyes grew heavier with each passing second, the heat surrounding him like a warm blanket inviting him to shut down all his systems and fall asleep in the Earth’s welcoming embrace. He took a long, deep breath, inhaling the fresh summer air in attempt to wake up his senses. His eyes snapped open.

“Okay, everyone! I’m sure you must be getting sick of all this informative talking, so now we are going to play a little game! It’s super simple, active, and a great way for us to get to know more about each other!”

_Ugh, another icebreaker. These people just love putting me out of my comfort zone, don’t they?_

“This game is called ‘I’ve Got Mail’. For those of you who haven’t played before, the rules are simple. One person stands in the middle of the circle - like I am right now - and says ‘I’ve got mail for anyone who-’ and then picks something that applies to themselves. So for example, I might say ‘I’ve got mail for anyone whose name starts with the letter ‘C’’ and everyone in the group whose name also starts with ‘C’ has to run and find a different spot in the circle. Whoever is left in the center of the circle without a spot starts the next round by picking a different quality about themself to say. Everyone got it?” A collective groan of acknowledgement rose from the group. Keith felt like sulking into the shadows where nobody could find him until the wretched game was over. At least that way he could have some nice shade.

Casey began the game with the same fact about herself as she used for her example. Keith stayed put, arms crossed over his chest and hair blowing across his face as various members of the group ran past. 

He hated icebreakers. No, hated wasn’t the right word. He _despised_ them. They were a waste of time. He didn’t care about meeting a whole group of new people. They didn’t care about meeting him. He didn’t want to hear the useless facts they would tell him. And he certainly didn’t want them knowing any more information about himself than was necessary. 

So, no. Icebreakers weren’t really his cup of tea.

_If I just stay here in this spot then it’ll never be possible for me to get stuck in the middle. Nobody here knows anything about me anyway. They don’t know if I should be running into the circle or not._

He didn’t leave his spot once. Rounds passed by, new facts for each one. It didn’t matter whether they applied to him or not, he stayed put, shoes glued to the grass. He leaned back, enjoying the fleeting cool breeze he felt every time someone ran past him, and let himself zone out. He didn’t need to pay attention to what they were saying. None of the things he heard were interesting anyway.

At least, not until Lance wound up in the center.

Keith stared into the circle and his eyes were met with the defined side-profile of the blue-eyed boy. Rubbing his hands together, Lance flashed his tiny crowd a smile. 

“Alright! I’ve got mail for anyone who has 6 siblings.”

Keith could’ve sworn he heard a cricket chirp. Not to his surprise, nobody moved. Everyone hesitated, unsure if they had heard correctly. The air was still. Lance’s words hung over the group like a raincloud. It felt like everyone was holding their breath, waiting for something to happen when they knew it should. But the group stood still. Lance spun around himself in a circle, scanning the crowd for a response. He looked baffled, like it was absolutely absurd that nobody else in their 14-person group had _exactly_ 6 siblings. When his eyes landed on Keith, the dark-haired boy just snorted.

“Oh, come on! What are you laughing at, Mullet?”

“Seriously, Lance? That’s, like, the worst fact you could’ve picked. Who else in this world has 6 siblings?”

His face fell into a pout as he crossed his arms over his chest, matching the other boy’s stance. “I don’t know! A lot of people probably!” His voice lowered into a mumble. “Just not anybody here apparently.” His eyes wandered up to the sky, averting from Keith’s gaze.

The Korean boy rolled his eyes. “Okay, dumbass, just pick a better fact already. Y’know, one that isn’t completely terrible.”

Lance opened his mouth, probably to retort with some insult, but he glanced around the group and decided against it, face contorting into a new expression Keith couldn’t quite place. What was that? Embarrassment? Self-consciousness? He couldn’t tell. 

The blue-eyed boy dropped his chin as his hand reached up, scratching at the back of his neck. “Fine. I’ve got mail for anyone who has at least 2 siblings!”

Half the group sprang from their spots, including the guy who had been standing on Keith’s right - _finally_. A waft of fresh summer air quickly replaced the lingering body odor. _Thank God. I can breathe now._ Lance saw the opening and hauled himself over to it, eying the other as he settled into place next to him. “Hey Mullet.”

Keith groaned. “I don’t have a mullet! Are you ever going to stop calling me that?”

“It _is_ a mullet. And since I know you hate it so much -” He cocked his head to the side and gave Keith a devilish grin. “- nope, I’m never going to stop calling you that, _Mullet._ ” He poked a long, skinny finger into the Korean boy’s side, who responded to the gesture with a meaningful scowl. “Figures.”

The two boys stood side by side watching the game as a few more rounds passed. Keith wasn’t exactly _thrilled_ that the lanky, irritating boy was pressed up against his already sweaty arm, but at least he smelled nice. There were worse people he could’ve been stuck next to, speaking from experience.

 

He was on the verge of death-by-boredom when Casey found her way into the middle again. _How much longer is this dumb game going to last? I’m about to fall asleep standing up, or drown in my own sweat. Maybe both at the same time._

“Okay, everyone listen up! We have time for just a few more rounds and then we’ll be off to lunch! So, I’ve got mail for… anyone who will be attending Altea University in the fall!”

Keith blinked up at her. _Is this bitch serious?_

Yep. He could tell she was completely serious from the shit-eating grin she wore. 

A groan escaped his throat. His head fell back as he forced himself to leave his sanctuary spot and search for a new one. But the circle around him had already vanished. The members of his group were scrambling every which way. He looked around, suddenly desperate to get to a new spot, but it was all a blur. Just a mass of bodies running around and bumping into each other like a swarm of blind bees. _How is anyone supposed to find a new spot in the circle if it doesn’t even exist anymore!_ He brought his hand up to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. _I really am surrounded by idiots._

When his hand dropped and eyes opened he noticed the group starting to take shape. Just as quickly as the circle had vanished, it reformed around him. _Shit._ He found himself stuck in the center of the newly formed circle with none other than Lance still pressed into his side.

Keith turned his head and found those dark blue eyes already looking at him. Just one look and he knew they were thinking the same thing.

His feet were already moving before he could form another thought. His vision tunneled. Right in front of the two boys was a small gap in the circle, just big enough to squeeze one person. Heart racing. Blood pumping. Breath heaving. His body took over as he sprinted to the spot. Eyes locked on the destination, he didn’t know if the other boy was still beside him or not. He didn’t risk looking. The open spot was only about five yards away. His legs carried him closer and closer with each stride. Four yards away. Three yards. Two yards. One.

He slipped into the open spot, slowing down his speed just enough to stop himself in place. Catching his breath, he slowly turned to look back as Lance, just a few strides behind, slowed his approach with a murderous look on his face. Keith’s lips quirked into a smirk.

He had always been an exceptionally fast runner. Speed was his gift. He loved the thrill of it, feeling the adrenaline soar through his veins. He lived for speed. Thrived off it. And he had never been more grateful for it than in that moment. Getting to see Lance’s face, seething in anger as the finality of his defeat sunk in. That right there. That was easily the highlight of Keith’s day. 

Not that it was a particularly exciting day anyway. 

But still.

Lance trudged dejectedly back to the center of the circle. With fire in his eyes he turned and glared directly at Keith as he spoke. “I’ve got mail for anyone who wasn’t born in the US.”

_This motherfucker._

There was no use pretending Keith _wasn’t_ born in Korea. Everyone heard him say that for his fun fact the day before. Lance just happened to be that dick who remembered, and fucking used it against him. 

Unwillingly Keith left his spot in the circle, a look of equal parts hostility and discomfort adorning his face. Of course no one else in the group was born outside the States. Why would they be? That would just make Keith’s life too easy. With no one else’s spot to snag, he had no choice but to go in the middle. Sighing, he stepped out of the circle’s perimeter and switched places with Lance. He did a quick glance around the group, desperately trying to think of something to say. His eyes landed on the culprit who had gotten him stuck in this situation. The blue-eyed boy had the smuggest look on his face. Keith wanted nothing more than to smack it off of him. That’s when the idea hit him.

“I’ve got mail for anyone wearing a sleeveless shirt.”

Lance looked at the Korean boy in disbelief. There was no way to hide the fact that he was clearly wearing a tank top and thus had no choice but to run into the circle along with the handful of others wearing sleeveless tops. Keith was ready for Lance though. He wanted revenge. There was no way he was going to let the blue-eyed boy catch someone else’s spot. Only over his dead body.

The Korean boy launched himself in Lance’s direction, making a beeline for his spot in the circle. Lance hesitated, searching for a new spot to grab. But right as he found one and lunged towards it, Keith was right in front of him. The blue-eyed boy ran right into him, stumbling backwards to maintain his balance. Keith lingered in the way for just a moment longer before settling in Lance’s spot in the circle, feigning innocence. “Sorry, Lance. Didn’t mean to bump into you. It was an accident.”

Lance, knowing _exactly_ what Keith was up to, ignored the dark-haired boy’s comment and hauled himself over to the nearest spot as fast as his legs would carry him. But it was too late. The others in the group had just finished settling into their new spots, leaving Lance dumbfounded in the middle. Yet again.

He whipped his head back to the Korean boy, shooting daggers at the culprit who stood there smirking.

_Yeah, Lance, that’s right. Two can play at this game, asshole._

Keith was aware that he was just poking the bear. Objectively, he knew he should be making an effort to get along with the guy, not piss him off even more. But then again, it was really fucking fun annoying him. And Shiro had told him to have fun this week, right? Keith could just leave out the details about what his ‘fun’ actually entailed. What Shiro didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him.

Keith tried to contain his laughter as he watched the blue-eyed boy make his way once again to the center of the circle practically vibrating with anger. Keith knew Lance would try to come up with another way to get him stuck in the circle, but this time he would be ready. He prepared himself to run, listening for Lance’s cue.

Only it wasn’t Lance’s voice he heard. It was Casey. “Okay everyone it’s just about time for lunch! This is a good time to stop since everyone has now had a chance in the middle, so follow me back to the dining hall!”

Keith was almost disappointed at the announcement. Almost. As dumb as the game was, he wished it would’ve lasted just a tiny bit longer if only for the sake of appeasing his competitive side. He wanted to get under Lance’s skin. Wanted to kick that cocky fuckboy off his high and mighty pedestal that he put himself on. Wanted to show Lance that he wasn’t just some hot shit who can go throwing his weight around. Wanted nothing more than to put him in his place. He didn’t just want to. He needed to.

But Keith would just have to wait for the time being. They still had four more days left together. Plenty of time to fuck with Mr. I’m-So-Perfect Lance McClain. All in due time.

 

\-----------

 

A single drop of water chased its way down the vein of Keith’s neck. It slipped down past his ear, over his few subtle freckles, and landed on the edge of his collarbone, daring to taunt him further. The itching sensation it left behind drove him mad. His hand shot up, smacking his skin under the drop just a little too hard, the sound ringing out loudly against the otherwise quiet dusk air. He slid his fingers down his collarbone, wiping away any last trace of water on his skin. 

He wasn’t sure why he was surprised that his hair was still wet, considering the fact that he had so much of it. Then again, it had been several hours since he showered. He supposed it must’ve been because of the evening humidity. Whatever the case, it was annoying.

He dropped his gaze down to his feet walking along the pavement and shook his head like a wet dog, launching a halo of mist in every which direction. He must’ve done that a hundred times that afternoon, but somehow the water seemed to elude him and leave him itching with droplets dancing down his neck every so often. He ran a hand through the dark mess on his head, ruffling his long locks back into their natural position through loose fingers. 

As if the mildly wet hair wasn’t bad enough, the obnoxious growls of his stomach decided to accompany him throughout the entire journey to the dining hall. With a sigh he pulled his phone (which Casey had so very kindly given back to him - _finally_ ) from his pocket. The harsh artificial light of its screen contrasted against the soft hues of the sunset painted across the evening sky. The white text spelling 7:12PM reflected against his dark purple irises. _Great. Twelve hours without food or water on probably the hottest day of the year. It’s amazing I didn’t pass out today. Honestly, I wish I had._

As his stomach threatened to eat itself he began to regret his decision to skip lunch. Electing to take a much needed shower instead of eating was a risky bargain that seemed incredibly satisfying to his sweaty body earlier, but now his stomach - and frustratingly damp hair - begged to differ. 

Hands stuffed in his pockets, head hung low, he shuffled on the sidewalk from the back of the group tuning out the soft murmur of conversation that rose from the students around him. Lost in his own world. Caught in a scene of silence. Draped in long evening shadows. It was hard to notice he was even there. He had a tendency to do that. Escape to his own peace where no one could bother him because they forgot he existed. 

It was only when he began to hear the clanging of dishes and the roar of a mob of teenagers that he lifted his head. Instantly his nose was filled with scents of fresh hot food just waiting to be eaten. _Finally._

He was about to barrel his way through the dining hall doors when he heard an unfortunately familiar voice pierce through the air. 

“Okay, Group B! Before you run off to get dinner I need everyone to check in with their buddies to make sure we’re all here!”

Keith dismally tore his gaze from the windows of the dining hall where he could already see lines forming in front of the food stations. He scanned the dimly lit faces in the group for Lance. 

They hadn’t spoken since their encounter during the icebreaker that morning. With their phones taken away and the whole afternoon dedicated to info sessions it wasn’t like they had much time to chit-chat. That was probably a good thing though. After the shit they pulled with each other during that dumb icebreaker game, well it didn’t seem like Lance was too happy about being his ‘buddy’ anymore.

Keith couldn’t quite wrap his head around the guy. One minute he wanted to rip Keith’s head off, and the next he’d start cracking jokes and laughing. Keith wasn’t lying to Shiro when he told him he thought they were getting along better. It honestly seemed like they were. At least to Keith it did. Sure, they got off to a pretty terrible start - _which was mostly Lance’s fault_ \- but they were mature enough to move on from that. Right? _Right??_ Keith knew it was fun to mess with the guy and annoy him, but that was all just to poke fun. Keith never actually _hated_ him. But whenever he thought that they might actually be able to tolerate each other for more than a few minutes, something else would happen and the blue-eyed boy would get pissed at him all over again. Keith didn’t know how he always managed to screw things up. This was exactly why he hated meeting new people. It always ended badly for everyone involved. Making friends was a waste of time and energy. Especially if Mr. Drama Queen Lance McClain was involved. Impossible. 

He glanced to his right and was met with an expressionless stare from said drama queen. He couldn’t read what was going on inside his head. Anger? Annoyance? Indifference? Hell, did it even matter? Keith didn’t need this guy’s approval. He didn’t want his friendship. Keith couldn’t care less about what other people thought of him. He’d gone his whole life getting looks of pity, disgust, scorn, and every other hateful reaction in the book. He was used to it. Comfortable with it even. There were few in his life that actually mattered to him. The rest were all irrelevant. The rest were all like Lance. Just another name nagging at his conscience. Just another face getting in his way. Keith had dealt with plenty of those types is his 18 years of life. Lance was just one more. He wouldn’t be the last.

Keith stared with distaste at the dark blue hues of Lance’s eyes. The silence between them stretched for longer than was comfortable. Keith could’ve said something. Anything. Just for the sake of conversation. Just to make things less … awkward. Less tense. 

But that wasn’t Keith’s style. If he didn’t have anything to say, then it was simple: he wouldn’t say anything at all. He never felt the itch to fill silence with useless small talk. He enjoyed the silence. Found it peaceful. Relaxing. Safe. And as it turned out, he didn’t have anything to say to Lance in that moment. Didn’t need to. Didn’t want to. 

But Lance on the other hand. He was a talker. Only around his closest friends and family would someone like him be comfortable enough to relax and enjoy the silence. But with anybody else? Forget it. With each passing second Keith watched as Lance became more and more uncomfortable under his stare. Keith’s lips subtly quirked into a smirk, eyebrows raised just a fraction, waiting.

Eight seconds passed. Eight wonderful, tranquil, Lance-free seconds. Keith knew they wouldn’t last, but he certainly enjoyed them while they did.

On the ninth second - yes, Keith had been counting - Lance cracked. His face brightened as he opened his mouth to say something. Keith quirked his head, smirk widening, amusedly curious what the other was going to say. But whatever it was got drowned out by Casey’s booming voice. “Is everyone’s buddy here? Yes? Okay, great! Everyone into the dining hall for dinner!” Both boys jumped, snapping their heads in her direction.

Keith’s vision tunneled. Completely forgetting about the blue-eyed boy, he hauled himself over to the dining hall entrance. Food was suddenly the only thing on his mind. He didn’t wait around for Lance or the others. He was the first one to push through the doors. 

With legs carrying him as fast as they could, he grabbed the nearest plate from the cart against the wall and made a beeline to the food. He jumped onto the back of the shortest line he could find, staring in agony at the back of some random girl’s head for countless minutes as it crawled forward ever so slowly. He remembered from the night before that this dining hall always served three different meals. Searching around the perimeter, he noticed the three distinct lines, one of which he was standing in. A line for the vegetarian option, a line for the meat-lovers, and one for all the generic cop-out choices of pizza, grilled-cheese, burgers, bread and sandwich meat, all the usuals. Keith didn’t even know which line he had gotten into. He was too hungry to care.

The plate sat warm and heavy in his gloved hands. The smell of melted cheese and hot tomato sauce wafted into his nose as he carried his chicken parmesan dinner away from the counter. Turned out he had been in the meat-lovers line. Good thing he wasn’t vegetarian.

Balancing his plate, silverware, and glass of ice water in his hands he sauntered into the seating area. He stretched out his neck, chin reaching as high as it could, eyes darting back and forth across the cafeteria. They locked into place on a single empty table near the back windows. _Perfect._

He zig-zagged his way across the dining hall, dodging chairs and weaving through bodies. He was halfway to his destination when he thought he heard a familiar voice ring out above the noise. He faltered, eyes glancing towards the sound without turning his head. _That kinda sounded like … did- .. did someone just call my name?_ He hesitated only for a fraction of a second before shaking his head and continuing walking. _Nah, I’m just hearing things. It’s been a long day and I’m deprived of food. Who would be calling me anyway? It’s not like Pidge is here. They had orientation two weeks ago._

He elected to ignore whatever it was he heard - or at least _thought_ he heard. Eyes glued on the destination, he carried his plate and cup towards the empty table, picking up his pace before someone else snagged it. 

He took two quick steps forward.

_“KEITH!!”_

Okay, this time he didn’t just imagine it. 

He stopped walking, and turned.

Ten feet in front of him sat his roommate, some little guy he didn’t recognize, and Lance who was perched on the edge of his seat frantically waving Keith over to them. He subconsciously squinted his eyes, glancing around at the boys, feeling vulnerable with all three sets of eyes on him. _Okay, wait, what the fuck? Why is Lance of all people calling me out of a crowd to come sit with him? I’m pretty sure this guy is supposed to hate me._

Keith faltered where he stood. He didn’t need any company. He didn’t _want_ any company. He was perfectly content eating alone. And after the day he had, he could’ve really used some peace and quiet. Well, as much quiet as he could get in a dining hall packed with students. The last thing he wanted to do was listen to Lance McLoud rattle off his antics. Keith had a headache just thinking about it. 

He knew he didn’t have the energy for conversation at that moment. Didn’t have the patience. But for some reason he found his legs carrying him towards the voice anyway…

“Well are you gonna sit down or just stand there all night?” Lance patted the seat next to him, peering up at Keith through long lashes. He hesitated under the proding gaze before placing his plate on the table and awkwardly sliding into the empty seat. An uncomfortable silence lingered through the group. 

Keith glanced across the table where his roommate was aggressively shoveling pasta into his face. Mouth full and dripping with read tomato sauce, he muttered an attempt at “Hey man” before shoving his fork full of pene back into his mouth. Keith simply nodded his head in acknowledgement as he picked up his silverware ready to follow in his roommate’s footsteps before his stomach imploded on itself. He had just cut off the first piece of his chicken parm when the guy sitting across from Lance cleared his throat. Fork hanging just inches from his mouth, Keith froze. He raised an eyebrow as his eyes shifted from his plate to the boy in question. He paused waiting for the stranger to say something, but he never did. He simply stared at Keith. No words. No emotion. Just a blank stare.

Keith slowly lowered his fork and glanced over at Lance for help. The blue-eyed boy was still facing the stranger with a look of perplexion. His eyes momentarily flickered over to Keith’s. At the sight of Keith’s confused state a burst of laughter escaped Lance’s mouth. He clapped his hands over his mouth trying to stifle the sound though his eyes became wet and squinted and his shoulders continued to bounce. He glanced back at the boy sitting across from him - who still had his eyes fixated on Keith - and cleared his throat, regaining his composure. 

“Umm, yeah, okay right, uh, Keith this is my roommate for this week. His name is Klaizap.”

Keith, still just as confused as before, turned his attention back to the boy who remained silent. “Oh, uh, nice to meet you, I guess. I’m Keith. Though I guess you probably know that already since Lance just said my name.”

No response. 

Keith nit his eyebrows. _Okay, what the fuck am I doing here? This is so awkward._ Keith dropped his head, opting to look at his uneaten chicken parm to avoid the unnerving gaze from Klaizap. The scent of his warm dinner filled his nose and his stomach grumbled in frustration. Before anyone else could interrupt, he quickly began stuffing his face.

Two minutes passed. The four boys sat tense and uncomfortable, eating their food without a word. Only the waves of background noise accompanied them. The soft sound of chewing, the occasional clank of fork against plate, the murmur of countless conversations blending together all around them. Keith was surprised Lance had lasted that long in the silence. Not to his surprise, the blue-eyed boy was the first to break.

“Talkative bunch we have here tonight, huh?”

Keith looked up from his meal and glanced around the table. His roommate had cleared off his plate completely and sat hunched over, nose buried in his phone. Whether he heard Lance or not, he didn’t show any interest in responding. Keith shifted his gaze to Klaizap who sat rigidly in his seat, both knees tucked up to his chin, staring intensely at his half eaten dinner. It didn’t look like he was even blinking. His eyes and mouth remained unmoving, completely ignoring Lance and his comment. Keith wasn’t sure why he was surprised. When he finally trailed his eyes over to Lance, he was already looking back at him, expectant. Keith just shrugged. 

“Aw, c’mon Kogane. I know you’re emo and all, but you can’t be silent all the time.”

“Try me.”

“Oh please, there must be _something_ you like to talk about. I’m easy going, you can talk to me about your angsty hobbies.” He placed his elbows on the table, folding his hands underneath his chin and smirking at Keith. “Don’t worry, I won’t judge.”

“That is easily the biggest lie I’ve heard in my entire life.”

 

“Hey I’m not a liar! I swear I won’t judge! I just wanna talk. You guys are so boring just sitting here in silence. It’s disgusting. I don’t know how you do it.”

“I do it because contrary to popular opinion, I like silence.”

“You’re joking, right?” The Korean boy just stared expressionless. Lance threw his arms up. “Keith, that’s so boring! You’re telling me you wouldn’t care if we just sat here the whole time and didn’t say one word at all?!”

Keith took another bite of his chicken, taking his sweet time chewing. “Hmm, nope.”

Lance flopped his hands down on the table exasperatedly. “That’s brutal! What’s the point of even being with people then? It would be the same as if you were just sitting by yourself.”

“Yeah. And I would.”

“What?”

“I would. Sit by myself. I was going to do that until you called me over to sit here instead.” It took everything in Keith’s power not to laugh as he watched the confused look on Lance’s face melt into a look of horror. “Why did you call me over to sit here anyway? You don’t even like me.”

“Eh, well, you’re not wrong. You emos are not easy to get along with. And that awful mullet of yours is pretty painful to look at. But I don’t know, we’re ‘buddies’ now, so I guess I just have to get used to it. Figured I’d have to learn to tolerate you sooner or later.”

“Your kind words are heartwarming.”

“What can I say? I’m a charmer.” He flashed Keith a bright toothy smile and winked. Keith stared absolutely dumbfounded. _Did he just fucking wink at me? Again?!_ If Keith hadn’t been so exhausted from the long day he would’ve decked Lance on the spot.

Those fucking flirty types. Keith hated them with his whole being. The fuckboys who strut around with their pretty faces and hot bodies. The ones who think they can get whatever they want just by flashing a smile. The ones who reel you in close until you’re hooked and then drop you without batting an eye. The ones who are so impossibly irresistible and even more so dangerous. The ones like Lance McClain. With his flirty winks. His beautiful smile. His captivating eyes. His sexy body. His… ugh, his _everything_. He was as bad as they came. The absolute _worst._ And Keith knew one thing. It was not good for his health.

Keith looked him dead in the eye with a look of murder. “Yeah, sure that’s definitely you. Mr. Prince Charming. Last time I checked, people who insult innocent strangers are not described as ‘charming.’”

“Pfft, you make it sound like _you’re_ the innocent one here. Please, you aren’t so kind yourself, Mullet.”

Keith considered. He wasn’t gonna deny the truth. “Yeah, fair enough. But there’s a difference though. At least I don’t pretend like I’m the nicest guy around like a _certain_ person I know does.” He shot Lance a scolding look.

Lance absently waved a hand in the other boy’s direction. “Oh, please. I don’t have to pretend when it’s true.”

“You know you’re just proving my point right now, right?”

“Lies. All lies.”

“Right. I’m the liar, and you’re not?”

“I’ll have you know, Mullet, that I’m incredibly honest, thank you very much! Name one lie I’ve told you. Go ahead.” He leaned into the table, eyebrows raised, posture forward in a challenge.

A smirk spread across the dark-haired boy’s face as he remembered their conversation from that morning. Raising the pitch of his voice an octave higher, he gave his best impersonation of Lance. “I’m the master of stealth. I never get caught with my phone. Don’t worry Keithy boy, there’s no way Casey will take away my phone.”

Lance’s smug expression dropped. “Hey! That was your fault and you know it!”

Keith rolled his eyes. “How was it my fault?! I warned you she was right behind you but you were too dense to listen.” He brought a fist up to the blue-eyed boy’s head and lightly knocked on it a few times. Lance batted his hand away. “Honestly, Lance, I should be the one blaming you. If you hadn’t made me laugh then she never would’ve confiscated my phone too!”

Lance shrugged. “What can I say? It’s not my fault I’m hilarious.”

“Say whatever you gotta say to make yourself feel better after getting my phone taken away for an entire 3 hour info session!”

“Y’know I came out to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now.”

Keith stared at the blue-eyed boy, mouth hanging slightly open. “I cannot believe you just said that.”

“And I can’t believe you even picked up on that reference. Wow, Mullet, I’m impressed. You may be disappointment to youth culture, but at least you know one meme, and for that I am proud.”

Keith rolled his eyes and let out a groan. “I know more than one meme, Lance. And if I’m such a disappointment then tell me why you called me over to come sit with you in the first place. I’m not buying the whole ‘oh, we’re buddies now so we should try to get along.’ Wouldn’t an embarrassment to youth culture like me just ruin your rep?” He raised his eyebrows at the other, a smug look on his face as he waited for a response.

Lance faltered, searching for words that were nowhere to be found. “I, uh- you, I mean-”

Keith smirked giving Lance a knowing look. “Yeah, yeah, that’s what I thought. It’s okay. Just admit that I’m not as bad as you say I am and that you actually just wanted to talk to me.” His smirk widened.

A slight flush of pink crept its way across Lance’s cheeks. “No, that’s not why I called you over here at all, Mullet! You totally are as bad as I say you are because I already told you I don’t lie.”

“And we’ve also already determined that that statement in and of itself is a lie.” He chuckled as the the blue-eyed boy opened and closed his mouth, baffled at the accusation. “Seriously, Lance, why did you call me over here then, huh?”

Lance’s eyes wandered around the room. “Pff, obviously because … I, uhh-”

“Yeah?”

“ _Because_ I wanted to ask more about your family from Korea. Yeah, that’s it.” He nodded, eyes falling back onto Keith’s. “Y’know because it’s something only the two of us in our group have in common. Both of us being born outside the States and all. I don’t know, I was just curious.”

“Riiight, uh huh. And that’s the only reason?”

“Yes!!

“Okay, okay. Sure, I believe you.” Lance let out a small breath, shoulders dropping an inch. “But then why haven’t you asked me about them yet? You called me over here about 20 minutes ago.” Keith’s smirk broke into a full on shit-eating grin.

“I- uhh, well, it just didn’t make sense to ask yet, idiot! Y’know, it didn’t flow with the conversation. But, uh, it does now, so Keith, what’s your family like? Are any of them still in Korea?”

Keith shook his head, mildly amused and a bit impressed with the attempt. “Nope , I’m not answering your questions about my family. You’re just trying to change the subject.”

“What? No I’m not!!” Keith just gave him a knowing look. “Okay fine, maybe I was just trying to change the subject, _but_ I actually am curious though. I wasn’t kidding when I said I want to know about your family. Soooo like I asked before, are any of your family members still there?”

Keith’s smile vanished, replaced with a cold stare. “And _I_ wasn’t kidding when I said I’m not answering questions about my family.” His tone was suddenly serious. His gaze relentless.

Lance faltered at the sudden change of emotion, but didn’t dwell on it. His face fell into a pout. “Aw, c’mon, you’re no fun. I love talking about my family!”

Keith leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. “Okay then. Tell me about yours.”

Lance’s face lit up. Keith hated the way it made his stomach flutter. “Well what do you want to know?”

“I guess I’ll start with where you’re from. Y’know you never actually told me, though I can assume it’s some place with Spanish for a native language.”

“Guess.” His eyes glinted with anticipation like a little kid waiting to open birthday presents. 

The Korean boy glared at him through slitted eyes. “Really?”

“Yes, really. Guess.”

Keith sighed and hesitated before answering, pondering his options. “Spain.”

Lance snorted, bringing a hand to his mouth and muffling his laughter. “Yes, of course. You got it. I’m from Spain, the most obvious place there is for ‘Spanish speaking country’. How did you know?”

Keith shoved the side of Lance’s arm. “Shut up, obviously that’s gonna be my first guess! Do you realize how many Spanish speaking countries there are to choose from? It’s not like it’s obvious!” Keith sunk lower into his seat, pouting.

“Okay fine, I’ll give you a hint. It’s located between the US and South America.”

The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah sure, ‘cause that really narrows it down. Thanks.”

Lance lightly shook his head, an amused smile spreading across his lips. “It’s an island in the Caribbean.”

Keith thought for a moment. “Puerto Rico!”

“Try again.”

“… Dominican Republic?”

“Try again.” Lance sighed, leaning his head into his hand, elbow propped on the table.

“Venezuela.”

“That’s not an island, genius.”

“Ugh, I don’t know! Jamaica?”

Lance snorted. “They’re not even natively Spanish.”

Keith dragged a hand down his face. “Ughhhh how am I supposed to know that?! I don’t know, Cuba?”

Lance’s soft expression was replaced with a smile. “Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Took you long enough.”

Keith glared at him. He opened his mouth to retort but the words died in his mouth when another voice spoke. 

“Cuba. Officially known as the Republic of Cuba. The largest of all the Caribbean islands and home to 11 million people.”

The two boys, both equally stunned, glanced across the table to where Klaizap was perched. He had been so quiet the whole time they had forgotten he was even there. Lance blinked and addressed his roommate. “Uhh, yeah, I guess. Thanks for the facts. How do you know that stuff?”

Klaizap’s eyed locked onto Lance’s as he continued. “Capital city Havana, or ‘La Habana’. Separated from the tip of Florida in the United States by only 90 miles of ocean.”

Lance glanced over at Keith, a quizial expression locked on his face, then returned his gaze to the talking encyclopedia. “Right. Well, uh, anyway…” He averted his eyes from Klaizap’s intense gaze and suddenly noticed there were only three boys left at the table where there used to be four. He pointed a finger to the chair that Keith’s roommate had been sitting in, now empty. “Hey, what happened to him?”

Lance flinched as he turned his attention back to Klaizap’s relentless gaze. The small boy never broke eye contact, didn’t even blink. “He picked up his plate and left. ‘I’m going up to the room. Been a long day,’ he said. You two were too busy chatting to notice.”

Heat crept up the back of Keith’s neck, ears turning pink. Lance’s eyes flickered over to Keith then quickly back to his roommate. “Oh,” he squeaked, voice suddenly softer and higher than before. Keith’s eyes glanced around the room while Lances fingers drummed against his thighs.  
The two boys sat there, silence hanging over them, unsure what else to say. They jumped when Klaizap abruptly stood. “Goodnight.” He grabbed his plate, eyes on the floor, and left in a hurry.

Keith and Lance sat there for a moment, stunned. The Cuban boy stole a glance at the other, and when their eyes met they burst out laughing. “Okay, what the fuck just happened?” Keith asked through stuttered breaths. 

“I honestly have no idea, but after knowing Klaizap for almost 2 days now I’ve learned you just gotta roll with it.”

“Is he always like that?”

“Would you believe me if I said yes?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure.” Keith replied, still laughing.

Lance was laughing with him. A good whole-hearted laugh. He leaned back in his chair, eyes squinted shut, shoulders bouncing, smile wide and bright. Keith caught his breath. He had never heard Lance laugh so hard. Had never seen him smile so brightly. It was beautiful. No. _Lance_ was beautiful. 

Keith was saved the embarrassment of being caught staring when a stranger cleared her throat next to him. He raised his gaze to the girl standing over him carrying a stack of large cards and a bucket. She robotically deposited two of said cards onto the table in front of him and next to them spilled a handful of circular plastic chips from said bucket. “The game starts in 5 minutes if you want to play. Winner gets a coupon for a free slice of pizza.” And just like that she was gone. 

Lance leaned over the Korean boy’s shoulder to get a look at the new goods they had been given. “Bingo?? What are we 85?”

Keith snorted. Of all the ridiculous things Altea had set up for them so far that week, this was by far the worst. He picked up one of the cards, flipping it over and over mindlessly in his hands. “I can’t even believe this. Do they really think that any person in this cafeteria is actually going to waste their time playing a dumb game of Bingo?” He tossed the card back onto the table.

Lance glanced mischievously at him out of the corner of his eye. “I don’t know, Keith. That just sounds like something a loser would say. I bet you’re only saying that because you know I’m better at Bingo than you.” He picked up one of the plastic chips in his palm and flicked it at Keith’s scowling face.

The dark-haired boy pinched the bridge of his nose. “Lance, what are you talking about? You can’t be _better_ than someone at Bingo. The game is entirely based on luck.”

“That’s just what they want you to think,” Lance said with a smirk. “Let’s be real here. I would totally beat your ass at this game, so I totally understand why you wouldn’t want to play against me. You wouldn’t stand a chance, Mullet.”

“But-” Keith glanced around trying to comprehend the lunacy he was hearing, “it’s literally just a game of luck! There is no skill involved whatsoever! What you’re saying literally makes no logical sense!”

Lance sighed. “Alright, fine then. You don’t believe me. So prove me wrong, Mullet. Based on my level of skill and natural ability it’s pretty obvious that I am going to win. But if you are so sure that my skill has nothing to do with it then, prove me wrong.” He leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. He wore the smuggest look on his face, eyebrows raised, lips hinting at a smile, confident composure challenging Keith.

It was a trap. Lance was baiting him. Egging him on to get his competitive side to take over and get a rise out of him. But was Keith going to give in? Was he really going to stoop to Lance’s level? Was he _really_ going to sit there and play a stupid boring ass game just for the sake of competition - for the sake of proving Lance wrong? Was it really _that_ easy for Lance to get a rise out of him?

As if his hands knew the answer before his mind did, they picked up a board and placed a chip in the middle Free Space. “Oh, it’s _on._ ”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for leaving such kind comments on the previous chapter! I really appreciate your feedback. After season 7 was released I had just one final scene to add to this chapter but I got into a bit of a funk with all the drama going down in the fandom at that time, so I lost motivation to write for a few days, but I read through your sweet comments and they inspired me again, so thank you for being so nice and for keeping me motivated! You are all so wonderful :) 
> 
> Here are translations for the few Spanish words/phrases that were used this chapter for those who want them:  
> Gilipollas - dumbass/idiot  
> Hijo de puta - son of a bitch  
> Mierda inútil - useless shit


End file.
